NETTA GELB

Netta Gelb, 29-30, is an Israeli-born Canadian. Gelb and her family moved from Israel to Canada when she was seven, and she grew up in Richmond Hill, Ont. She graduated from high school in 2013, and in July of that year moved back to Israel with the intent of joining the Israeli military through the Garin Tzabar program. At the time, she told the Jewish Press, “I have been really looking forward to this for a long time.” Gelb would go on to serve in an air defence command while Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza that would kill nearly 2,300 Palestinians was ongoing.

At the time, her father, Martin Gelb, told the National Post, “There was really not much we could do to stop [her] […] It’s very difficult to explain it to people … how she could make that decision, and go off and do it. […] At that age, you can’t really tell them anything.” Martin also served in the Israeli military and is included in this database.

Gelb would go on to get a bachelor’s degree from Tel Aviv university and remain in Israel. She now works at Omrix Biosurgery Israel as a junior financial analyst, according to her LinkedIn.

This database was created by The Maple to document Canadians that have served in the Israeli military.