Still affectionately known as “Captain Ella,” Maj. Ella Waweya, 33 of Qalansawe felt she had to conceal her service from her family when she first volunteered for the IDF.
BY ETGAR LEFKOVITS
She is a Muslim Arab woman.
She’s an iconoclast and a pioneer.
An army officer who has received both the President’s Award of Excellence and that of the minister of defense, she is the first Muslim Arab woman to publicly become a major in the IDF.
Captain Ella’s unconventional life journey begins in the central Israeli city of Qalansawe, located east of Netanya, where virtually all the residents are Muslim Arabs. Continue Reading »