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Israeli actress and model Gal Gadot of Wonder Woman fame recently showed her solidarity with Israeli forces and condemned the attack by the Hamas group on her country. In fact, she shared her support for the Israeli forces now engaged in the conflict via a series of Instagram posts.
Disclaimer: This article contains visual and textual references to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
A part of the caption for her first post, uploaded on Sunday, read:
“My heart is aching. Paying for all those in pain.”
Her post shared an image of a news headline from BBC News that claimed how Israeli civilians, including women, children, and elders were taken hostage or murdered by “Palestinian military group Hamas.”
In another post, Gal Gadot wrote:
“I stand with Israel, you should too. The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!”
Following her posts about the Israel-Palestine conflict, Gal Gadot’s service in the Israeli Defense Forces or the IDF has come to the forefront.
Gal Gadot was in the IDF for two years
Now 38 years old, Gal Gadot served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for two years between 2005 and 2007, as is mandatory for all Israeli citizens, as per Fox News.
Her role was that of a trainer and combat instructor who taught gymnastics and calisthenics. In fact, she served as a “samal” or a sergeant. During her time in the IDF, the Heart of Stone star served in a 34-day conflict between northern Israel and Lebanon as part of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, as reported by Vanity Fair.
In a 2017 interview with PEOPLE, Gal Gadot said that her martial arts training helped her with her military career in Israel. In fact, she also stated that she owned black belts in both karate and Krav Maga.
In August this year, she also told Fox 32’s entertainment reporter Jake Hamilton how her time in the military helped her learn valuable life lessons such as discipline and leadership, and pursue acting as a career.
Gal Gadot extends support amid Israel-Palestine conflict
On Saturday, October 7, the Hamas group from Palestine launched a surprise attack on Israel. In response, the Israeli government deployed the IDF for a counterstrike. The conflict which is primarily spread across the Gaza border has so far claimed the lives of over 800 Israelis and more than 500 Palestinians, as reported by Fox News.
In the wake of the Israel-Palestine conflict, former IDF sergeant and actress Gal Gadot extended support for her country and its people via a series of Instagram posts. The first was posted on Sunday, with the caption:
“At least 250 Israelis have been murdered and dozens of women, children, and elders held as hostages in Gaza, by Palestinian military group Hamas. Starting early morning more than 3000 rockets were fired.”
The post further accused the Hamas group of holding hostages, and controlling bases and settlements in Israel, as “heavy fighting” was ongoing. It also stated how hundreds were dying, with thousands wounded.
In one of her latest posts, Gal Gadot shared a video of CNN reporter Nic Robertson who visited Israel’s Kfar Aza region and inspected the wreckage of the conflict himself.
Her most recent Instagram post shared a clipping of a mother’s plea for her missing daughter, on behalf of the Mayzel family. The caption of Gadot’s post said how Hamas was allegedly holding many men, women, and children as hostages and was “threatening to broadcast their execution.” She further added that it was everyone’s duty to help bring them back to safety.
It is important to note that this is not the first time Gadot has shown support for her nation. Earlier in 2014, during the Gaza War, she sought for peace between Israel and Palestine. In 2021 too, she urged that the conflict between the two nations be resolved.
Interestingly, due to her service in the IDF and her vocal support for Israel, many countries in the region that “recognize Palestine” do not allow her films to be released there, as per Yahoo! These countries include Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, and Tunisia, among others.
