From the difficult childhood to the decisive role in the Israeli security giant

R. was 8 years old when her parents were debating whether to move from Belarus to Israel. Her father, who was a senior mechanical engineer, was afraid of ending up as an immigrant who works in cleaning, like his acquaintances. But her brother, who went up a year earlier to enlist, encouraged her mother to follow him. Thus R. immigrated to Israel with only her mother and grandmother – three wives, three generations.

● For the full 40 to 40 project

They were located in the northern region, “in a distressed neighborhood”, and R’s absorption was not easy. There were only two other Russian-speaking children in her class, and the cultural differences with the locals were enormous – “at the breakfast they would send them, the appearance, the language and the accent,” she recalls.

“But I had an amazing teacher who believed in me from the beginning. She brought me her daughter’s clothes and integrated me. Within three months I was already speaking comfortably, with or without mistakes, and in the fourth grade I joined the student council. In the division I was already elected to the position of chairman.”

For R. this was the first success in Israel, in a series of achievements whose peak was last year, when she was appointed the director of operations and projects for the laser systems at Rafael.

There were a few obstacles along the way. “I enlisted in the artillery and wanted to be an officer, but on the way to the training the commander I was traveling with fell asleep at the wheel and we had an accident. I was in rehabilitation for a long time, and although I later started an officer’s course, without exemptions, it did not work out physically. I went back to rehabilitation and was asked to retire, but I insisted on only lowering my profile and going to artillery training.”

Upon completion of her service, she applied for a bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Haifa and at the same time began working at Bank Hapoalim, in the options writing team.

In her second year of her degree, she was accepted to Raphael. “For a decade I held a series of positions: in finance, in contract management and in all the worlds of project planning, control and operation.” At the same time she did a master’s degree in business administration at the Open University.

At some point, R. decided to leave Rafael and move to a medical company, and for two years she served there as business operations leader. But then she was offered to return to Rafael and serve as the director of operations and projects for the Iron Dome. “It was the peak of my life and I hope for more such peaks. I led people in the unit who contribute from the soul to the security of the country, and in terms of sacrifice, commitment, mission, and dedication – I felt I was in the right place.”

In Iron Swords, R. found herself facing a reality that has become the lot of many in the defense industries: a careerist wife who contributes to security, while the husband is in the reserves. “I went to work under fire, even when our childhoods didn’t always have frames. I left little girls with a 94-year-old grandmother, when it wasn’t clear who was looking after who, but it was to protect the house, I knew how much an iron dome is a supreme value.”

Upon her return from maternity leave, during the war, she was offered a new challenge: to join the leading team of the laser systems, the one that also developed Or Eitan, which was handed over to the IDF about four months ago. The laser director at the Land and Sea Brigade in Rafael has dozens of employees, and under R. is entrusted all areas of administration, planning and projects.

“The directorate is not only at the forefront of Rafael, but also in the world, with developments that are second to none – and this is a tremendous privilege. I went through a process – from a child who was ashamed to speak Russian and was quite alone to the point where my daughters are proud that their mother holds a senior position in an organization that has engraved the security of the country on its banner.”

Is the system now at the point you aspired to?
“We delivered the system to the Air Force on time, and it’s a historic moment. We manage the schedule strictly, work odd hours and everything to make things happen. I’m not alone, I’m part of an amazing team. It is not obvious that people work with such intensity for a long time and with a smile on their face.”

In a decade, R. states that she would like to see herself still at Rafael, developing in the worlds of operations and positioning herself as a professional authority. “And most of all, it’s important for me to feel that I bring value, in any role.”