A powerful message of hope and continuity was broadcast across Israel this week as Sara, a Holocaust survivor who survived with partisans, addressed the country’s current generation of female Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. Her message, released by the official IDF communications network, underscored the resilience and shared history of Jewish resistance from the forests of wartime Eastern Europe to the modern battlegrounds where Israel confronts terror organizations and existential threats.
Sara’s testimony draws a direct line from her experiences as a Jewish child forced to flee Nazi persecution—surviving deprivation and violence alongside partisan fighters—to the unique demands and responsibilities shouldered by today’s Israeli women serving in the IDF. By invoking Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah” (The Hope), Sara personalized the ethos of Jewish survival, suggesting that the spirit of determination and perseverance remains essential for every generation facing danger.
Her appearance comes at a critical time for Israel. Following the October 7, 2023 massacre, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israeli territory and murdered over 1,200 people—carrying out the deadliest antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust and abducting over a hundred hostages—Israel has been engaged in the Iron Swords War against Hamas in Gaza and fending off Iranian-backed terror threats from Lebanon, Syria, and beyond. Women comprise a significant and growing portion of the IDF, serving in combat units, command roles, technology divisions, and on the front lines of Israel’s ongoing war for survival.
Sara’s life embodies the themes of loss, resistance, and ultimately hope. As a child, she was stripped of her home and security during the Holocaust and forced to flee to the forests, where she joined partisan units—including many Jewish fighters—who conducted sabotage, gathered intelligence, and protected fellow fugitives under Nazi occupation. These partisans became legendary for their daring raids and resourcefulness, symbolizing the refusal of the Jewish people to accept annihilation, even when the world offered little protection or recognition.
In her statement to IDF soldiers, Sara reflected on the hunger, cold, and fear that shaped her childhood, drawing a parallel with the hardships facing current Israeli fighters. She emphasized the obligation each generation has not only to remember but to actively defend the existence and values of the Jewish state, invoking “Hatikvah” as both a historical promise and a living mandate.
The IDF’s decision to share Sara’s message reflects a deliberate effort to connect living memory of the Holocaust with the contemporary reality of Iranian-backed terrorism and regional hatred. Under the command of Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, and amid appeals by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Israel Katz, Israel’s military doctrine remains rooted in national self-defense against entities intent on its destruction. This narrative asserts: while Israel operates by the rule of law and maintains basic human rights for all citizens, terror organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah wage war through indiscriminate violence, targeting civilians, and exploiting civilian infrastructure for attacks.
Today, Israeli women are integrated more deeply than ever before across all aspects of IDF operations. Following decades of evolving policy and necessity, women now lead combat units, fly advanced aircraft, command intelligence operations, and take an increasingly prominent public and symbolic role in national defense. Their growing participation is regarded not only as a military asset but as confirmation of the state’s commitment to equality and collective responsibility.
Sara’s message served to highlight these realities. Her encouragement to female soldiers was more than symbolic—she called them to recognize themselves as heirs to the struggles of past generations who risked everything for survival and freedom. Her words have resonated in basic training units, command centers, and public forums, reinforcing morale and underscoring Israel’s historical mission.
The current war’s backdrop includes the unresolved hostage crisis, in which Hamas continues to hold more than 100 Israeli men, women, and children—taken during the October 7 attack. Their ordeal underscores a profound ethical dichotomy: Israel has released hundreds of convicted terrorists in past exchanges to secure the freedom of its abducted citizens, while terror groups engage in abduction and torture as acts of strategy. International law and humanitarian conventions remain clear: the targeting and holding of innocents is a war crime, yet the international response has often been muted or uneven.
Sara’s survival embodies a different kind of endurance, as does the national memory of the Holocaust—a factor Israeli leaders have cited in defending forceful responses against renewed threats. Her message, viewed widely in IDF circles and within Israeli civil society, has also been adopted by educators and diaspora communities as part of ongoing Holocaust remembrance and national resilience programming.
For Israel, the lessons of the last century remain urgent. With Iranian-led militias, Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen openly advocating for Israel’s destruction and waging war through rockets, cyberattacks, and ideological incitement, the country’s security doctrine is shaped not just by military necessity, but by historical awareness. Every generation stands as both beneficiary and guardian of Jewish continuity—the state of Israel as the hard-won fulfillment of hope after catastrophe.
Public response to Sara’s message has integrated her history with contemporary acts of heroism. IDF spokespeople have cited her example in resilience training, and ministries have encouraged the public dissemination of survivor testimony as a motivating force in Israel’s defense culture. According to the Ministry of Education, survivors’ narratives are increasingly considered vital tools for maintaining national unity and clarity of purpose amid a protracted conflict.
Internationally, the story has been shared by Jewish and pro-Israel organizations in Europe, North America, and beyond, serving as a reminder of the dangers of Holocaust denial, the resurgence of antisemitism, and the stakes of Israel’s ongoing fight against terror. Sara’s life, her message, and the IDF’s use of her story have underscored the unique position of Israel as a democracy under siege, defending itself with a citizen army in which women serve at every level.
As the Iron Swords War continues and the fate of hostages remains a national trauma, Sara’s story provides both comfort and resolve: Israel’s survival depends not just on arms, but on the preservation of memory, the transmission of hope, and the willingness of each generation—women and men alike—to defend its future.
Sara’s closing words, echoing the refrain of “Hatikvah,” remind today’s soldiers and citizens alike: hope is both a legacy and a responsibility, and the story of Jewish survival endures with every act of defense in the land of Israel.
