The 38-year-old Avishag Shiran Malka from Afula is the only haredi soldier on the Border Police force. During her service, she wears a uniform that includes a long skirt that covers her knees as well as a head covering. Yediot Aharonot reported this morning that Malka, married and mother to two sons aged seven and four, both of whom attend haredi schools, does not see a contradiction between her lifestyle and military duty. "I am very proud to serve in the Border Police, and I would also recommend that other haredi women enlist in the army," she was quoted as telling Ynet . "It is possible to combine a haredi lifestyle with operational and challenging work." Malka was born in Tel Aviv, moved with her family to the Har Ephraim district of central Israel, and attended public schools as a child. At the age of 18, she enlisted in the Border Police and served as a combat soldier in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. A year after her release, she returned for permanent service. "At the age of 26, I started attending Torah classes and learning about Judaism," she says. "Each time I took on more and more commandments until I became a haredi woman."
