Natasha Barnston (born Natasha Stern), 37-38, is a Canadian from Toronto. She immigrated to Israel after high school through the Nefesh B’Nefesh program “with the singular aim of joining the army,” according to a 2008 article in the Jerusalem Post. She ended up doing so, serving as a “non-commissioned officer in the education corps working with new immigrants.”
In March 2024, Barnston told Shoutout LA, “Well my first real job was in the Israeli Defense Force, I was a commander and a sergeant for basic training for immigrants in the education unit. That job really taught me how to work. I worked on my feet 19 hours a day, 6 days a week for 2 years. I built stamina, but my mental health was not in a good place, and I know HOW I was working and showing up was not sustainable.”
In 2008, Barnston told the Jerusalem Post that she believes the Israeli military protects Jews around the world, saying, “I think all Jews should serve, or at least volunteer to serve, in the IDF. It’s just something we have to do. It’s not a question. All Jews are obligated to go into the army of the Jewish nation.”
The Jerusalem Post wrote, “Initially, her parents, Ellie and Arthur, were not overjoyed about her decision to go to Israel and join the army, but they soon gave in, supported her ambition and gave her their blessing. […] Both her parents and her sister Alex, 18, who is studying in Israel, were extremely proud of her. Alex has not yet decided whether to follow Natasha into the army. ‘I might,’ she said with a grin. Her parents would like to spend six months in Israel and six months in Canada each year, but they have a 16-year-old son, David, at home, and must consider his needs. Despite her original objections, Ellie Stern now believes her daughter made the right decision. ‘I’m proud, very proud. It’s amazing,’ she said.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that Barnston was one of 120 soldiers to receive an award at a 2008 ceremony in Israel from “the president, the prime minister, the defense minister, the chief of General Staff and past and present senior commanders.”
Barnston spent a few years in Israel after finishing her service, and then moved back to Canada, where she did a variety of jobs, went to New York City for acting school, moved to Israel and back again, and then eventually to Los Angeles, where she now works as a life coach, saying that she offers clients “an opportunity to invest in an authentic internal renovation.”
Barnston’s mother, Ellie Stern, is a former buyer for a major Canadian retailer and a co-founder of a now-closed clothing store in Toronto that sold items from Israeli designers, according to the Toronto Star. The paper reported that Ellie “first fell in love with Israeli fashion when her daughter was living there.’”
