Like Most Israeli Citizens, Gal Gadot Served in the IDF — but What Did She Do?

With the recent bloodshed between Palestinians and Israelis there's been a lot of political discourse surrounding the situation between the two nations. With protests burgeoning all over the world, a lot of scrutiny has been placed on individuals who profess support for either side. Now, even notable celebrities with ties to both Israeli and Palestine are being mentioned in the conversation, like actress Gal Gadot. And fans of hers want to know: What did she do in the IDF?

All eligible Israeli citizens must serve two years in the nation's military, the Israel Defense Forces. The fact that Gal Gadot was a top model and a Miss Universe contestant didn't "absolve" her of this duty, and in an interview with Glamour she appears to have embraced her role wholeheartedly.

After passing the three-month IDF bootcamp training period, Gal was assigned a role in the military. She was made a gymnastics and calisthenics instructor. "The soldiers loved me because I made them fit," she said.

She stated that her time serving in her nation's armed forces came naturally to her. "The army wasn’t that difficult for me. The military gave me good training for Hollywood."

Gal's tenure coincided with the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah War, but there aren't any reports as to whether or not she engaged in combat.

"In Israel serving is part of being an Israeli. You've got to give back to the state. You give two or three years, and it's not about you. You give your freedom away. You learn discipline and respect," Gal said.

Gal wrote in an Instagram post:

"My heart breaks. My country is at war. I worry for my family, my friends. I worry for my people. This is a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long. Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation, our neighbors deserve the same. I pray for the victims and their families, I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end, I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace. I pray for better days."

Comments for the post were disabled, but that didn't stop Mia Khalifa from sharing her own thoughts about Gal Gadot on Twitter. Sharing a post from HBO Max that reported Wonder Woman 1984 was returning to the platform, Khalifa wrote, "we asked for the #SnyderCut, not Genocide Barbie."

Gal has received criticism from both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian camps. Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wasn't happy with her message. "The models of Palestinian descent Gigi and Bella Hadid, with millions of followers, have been conducting antisemitic propaganda against Israel 24/7 since the beginning of the mess."

"The only Israeli figure, with the same number of followers, and with the power of an international celeb, who can give them a fight in publicity is Gal Gadot. She chose to write a neutral post as if she was from Switzerland."

Gal also uploaded her message to Twitter, also disabling comments to it on the platform. It's received over 140,000 retweets as of this writing.