Danit Silber is one of a growing number of Israeli women who opt to stay in the reserves after motherhood—and who got called up on Oct. 7.
Capt. Danit Silber has been on duty for almost two months. An IDF reservist, she dropped everything to answer her country’s call on Oct. 7, showing up on base three hours after getting an urgent phone call that fateful afternoon.
That means she is almost two months away from her two toddlers, a son, age 4, and a daughter, age 2. But Capt. Silber knew this was the price she might one day have to pay.
She volunteered to stay in Israel’s reserves even though mothers and pregnant women are exempt from further reserve duty.
Her husband, Yishai, has her back. Not in the reserves, he’s home with the kids, juggling a job, childcare, and domestic duties.
Capt. Silber has some one- or two-day liberties when she’s gotten to come home and reconnect with her family.
She’s been a reservist for 18 years since finishing her regular army service in 2005. That’s mostly meant going in for a few days, occasionally as long as two weeks. Usually, she’s given advance notice, up to two months, if the army is going to need her more than three days.
This was…
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