Alice Miller: CEO of Israeli disaster org on aiding Gazans post-Oct. 7
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with Alice Miller, the CEO of Natan Worldwide Disaster Relief.
Miller is nationally known for her landmark Supreme Court case in 1995, which opened the gates of the Israel Air Force to female fighter pilots. This decision paved the way for today's female combat soldiers and made Miller a household name.
However, that was just the start of Miller's incredible journey that has taken her around the globe -- and her work as an aeronautical engineer may even reach the moon.
Today, Miller serves as the head of an NGO that brings volunteer medical staff and therapists into international disaster zones. In the past year alone, teams have landed in Syria, Mexico and are shortly taking off for Mozambique.
Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, the organization began work in Israel for the first time -- and eventually, also in the Gaza Strip.
We learn about the principled decision that has Israelis serving Gazans as we ask Miller, what matters now.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's What Matters Now. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm your host, Deputy Editor Amanda Borschelle Gahn, here in our Jerusalem studio with a pioneering woman named Alice Miller. |
| 0:15.6 | Now, anyone who's lived in Israel for any amount of time has heard this name Alice Miller. |
| 0:20.2 | So for me, it is really |
| 0:21.7 | a moment of meeting, I would say a hero in many ways. Why? As long-time listeners know, I am a big |
| 0:29.6 | feminist, and you also know that one of my daughters is now serving in the IDF in a combat role. |
| 0:35.5 | She would not have been in this rule, were it not for Alice Miller, because Alice was, |
| 0:41.5 | you know, how pilots break Mach. |
| 0:44.1 | Well, Alice was the one who broke the glass ceiling for combat roles for women in the IDF. |
| 0:51.2 | So let's talk a little bit about this. |
| 0:53.5 | And I'm just so thrilled to meet you, |
| 0:55.7 | Alice. So thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you very much. Such a pleasure. |
| 1:00.0 | So let me take you back to 1995. And that's when you began your journey, essentially, |
| 1:06.0 | in terms of being an Israeli heroine. So tell us what happened then. Well, I'll start a little before that. |
| 1:12.6 | Great. |
| 1:12.8 | Because I've just come back from the Machesh Ramon, |
| 1:16.0 | from the Ramon crater, |
| 1:17.5 | where my younger daughter is with her classmates |
| 1:20.7 | and they're all lying under the Milky Way. |
| 1:24.5 | And I have a deep understanding of the night sky and I spent the night with them. |
| 1:31.7 | I've always been extremely fascinated with the night sky. |
| 1:35.6 | And when I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut. |
... |
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