Amman Today
publish date 2026-02-16 15:45:00
For the first time in its history, the Israeli army appointed a Muslim woman as its Arabic spokesperson.
Maj. Ella Wawiyeh, 36, who has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, will replace Colonel Avichai Adraee, who has served as the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman since 2005 and announced his retirement after 18 years.
Accept my fairest choices
A Muslim woman speaks on behalf of the Israeli army
Wawiyya comes from Qalanswa, an Arab town in central Israel, part of the areas inhabited by Arabs who remained inside Israel after the 1948 war, and who today constitute about 20% of the population.
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Ella Wawiyya volunteered to serve in the Israeli army at the age of twenty-four. She joined the Army Spokesperson’s Unit, where she began her career conveying military messages to the Arab public.
During her service, she received medals of appreciation from the President of the State, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Chief of the Operations Division.
She gained great fame after launching the “Captain Ella” account on social media platforms in 2019, where she regularly posts messages and videos in Arabic and Hebrew, and her views often reach tens of thousands, with about half a million followers on TikTok and Instagram combined.
Accept my fairest choices
During the task handover ceremony, Adraee congratulated his colleague, saying, “Today, after a career spanning nearly twenty years in the service of the IDF, during which I assumed responsibility for the Arab and Middle East Media Unit, I stood in the task handover ceremony, where I handed over the banner to my colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Ella Wawiyah. During the coming period, I will continue to speak on behalf of the IDF and communicate with you through my official accounts on social networking sites, especially with regard to operational developments, various warnings, and other developments, as you are accustomed to.”
Adraee added, “I will always support Ella and the officials in the IDF Spokesperson’s Office. In the coming days, we will review our most prominent achievements and major milestones during our years of service in the IDF.”
“Identity problem”
Ella Wawiyah focuses her content on providing short, direct messages, in a familiar military uniform and a firm tone. It has always emphasized its goal of cooperating with the Arab media and presenting the facts about Israel and the Israeli army. She stated more than once in her media statements that “our role is to convey the voice of the army.”
The newly appointed young woman has been subjected to criticism from within the Arab community in Israel, with some calling on her to stop carrying out the tasks she is carrying out due to her connection to the Arab community, which has always constituted a challenge to her identity.
In this context, Wawiya previously described this stage as an “identity problem,” as she was always trying to define herself between being an “Arab 1948” or an “Israeli Arab.” But she explained in previous press interviews that, at the age of sixteen, she chose to adhere to the Israeli identity, saying: “I told myself that as long as I am Israeli, I have to do something about it.”
Political message
Before joining the army, Ella did national service at Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, a move she kept secret from her family.
She volunteered even though conscription does not extend to the majority of Arab Muslims in Israel, who often face doubts about their dual loyalty.
Especially since in 2020, the number of Arab Muslims wearing Israeli military uniforms did not exceed 606 people.
The new appointment of Ella Wawiyeh comes at a time when some Arab-Israeli parties are moving towards joining a government coalition. This is what some military and political experts see as an Israeli message that the army is capable of distinguishing between Arab citizens of Israel and those loyal to Palestinian movements.
“I hope the girls of Gaza look like me.”
Through her new position, Wawia aspires to present an Arab female role model armed with knowledge, education, and professionalism. She said in statements to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, “I hope that the girls of Gaza will be like me. And that their lives will be filled with academic degrees, distinction, success, and education.”
Ella replaces Adraee, a former Israeli officer who was famous for his distinguished communication methodology in the Arab world.
He appeared regularly on Arab channels, and had a large fan base of more than 2.5 million followers on Facebook, about 800,000 on the X platform, and nearly two million on TikTok.
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World News
Source 1 : https://www.france24.com/ar/الشرق-الأوسط/20260216-إيلا-واوية-غزة-مسلمة-فلسطين-إسرائيل-الجيش-الإسرائيلي
Source 2 : ألدستور
