"חדר משלהן" בצבא ההגנה לישראל? - חוויותיהן של חיילות תומכות לחימה בחדרי מלחמה קדמיים

Women serve in a variety of combat roles and combat support positions in various militaries around the globe, including the IsraelDefense Forces.In parallel, new technologies of warfare are transferring more and more soldiers from the sidelines into the heart of the battle. More women soldiers are thus becoming significant participants in war by virtue of their assignment to strategic war rooms.As one of the interviewees explained: “In the war-room, you see everything. You see more than the soldiers in the field see; you see the whole picture...” Even though such women soldiers are not located physically in the battlefield, they do indeed participate in war—by promoting ‘security’ for their countries and for their brothersin arms and by being responsible for injuring the ‘other.’The stationing of women in war rooms located on the borders of conflict zones, which are equipped with the latest technologiesthat bring the reality of the warzone into the war room, may challenge traditional concepts of security, war, and gender roles. The narratives of women soldiers serving in the backstage of warthus provide critical insights into 'experiencing war’ and ‘making war’ in war spaces.Personal interviews with Israeli women soldiers whose mandatory military service was spent in war rooms revealed multiple narratives of war, including the intertwining of protection, security, and insecurity. The paper sheds new light on the role of women in the military by exploring women “in a room of their own” in the current spacesof warfare.