{"id":7619,"date":"2026-02-03T15:09:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/?p=7619"},"modified":"2026-02-03T15:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:09:51","slug":"muslim-maj-ella-waweya-as-new-idf-arabic-spokesperson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/international\/muslim-maj-ella-waweya-as-new-idf-arabic-spokesperson\/7619\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Maj. Ella Waweya as New IDF Arabic Spokesperson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tuesday, 03 February 2026 | Web Desk<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an uncommon move, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has appointed a Muslim woman officer, Major Ella Waweya, as its new military spokesperson for the Arabic language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Israeli media, the 36-year-old Major Waweya is set to take over the role from Colonel Avichay Adraee in the coming weeks. Known on social media as &#8220;Captain Ella,&#8221; she is recognized as one of the IDF&#8217;s foremost Muslim Arab female officers and will be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel upon assuming her new duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ella Waweya was born in the Arab town of Qalansawe in central Israel and voluntarily enlisted in the IDF in 2013. While Israel is a Jewish state, approximately 20% of its population consists of Arab citizens, including Muslims, Christians, and Druze. Military service is mandatory for the Druze and Circassian communities under Israeli law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Muslim and Christian Arab citizens, however, enlistment is voluntary. Notably, recent years have seen a surprising increase in the number of Arab youth, particularly women, volunteering to serve in the Israeli military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/international\/iran-fm-fingers-on-trigger-warning-trump-naval-threat\/7614\/\">Irani Forces \u2018Fingers on Trigger,\u2019 Abbas Araghchi<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The appointment of Major Ella Waweya is being viewed as a significant step forward in the context of the growing representation of Arab citizens, especially Muslim women, within the ranks of the IDF.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday, 03 February 2026 | Web Desk In an uncommon move, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has appointed a Muslim woman officer, Major Ella Waweya, as its new military spokesperson for the Arabic language. According to Israeli media, the 36-year-old Major Waweya is set to take over the role from Colonel Avichay Adraee in the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-international"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Muslim Maj. 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Ella Waweya as New IDF Arabic Spokesperson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an uncommon move, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has appointed a Muslim woman officer, Major Ella Waweya, as its new military spokesperson for the Arabic language.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/international\/muslim-maj-ella-waweya-as-new-idf-arabic-spokesperson\/7619\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NewsMakers-Daily Latest Urdu Breaking News Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-03T15:09:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-03T15:09:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Israeli-army-spokesperson-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"530\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"314\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"musa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"musa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/international\/muslim-maj-ella-waweya-as-new-idf-arabic-spokesperson\/7619\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/international\/muslim-maj-ella-waweya-as-new-idf-arabic-spokesperson\/7619\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"musa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.newsmakers.com.pk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/eea5003dc879d02815bf9c060857c0cb\"},\"headline\":\"Muslim Maj. 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