Israeli Motorcyclist Alona Ben Natan Takes on UAE’s Baja Cup With Speed and Spirit

Alona Ben Natan, one of Israel’s most pioneering athletes, is set to close her international off-road racing season in the sand-swept dunes of Dubai a venue as politically complex as it is physically unforgiving.

Leading the global Baja World Cup standings, Ben Natan enters the final round not only as a top competitor, but as a symbol of perseverance and quiet diplomacy. Racing across some of the most challenging terrains in Portugal, Spain, and now the UAE, she carries with her the scars of two turbulent years from personal grief to the global challenges facing Israeli athletes.

“Dubai is one of the toughest races in the whole season,” she said, describing its soft sands and searing heat. The desert, she explained, strips everything down to pure endurance and mental clarity.

Ben Natan is no stranger to breaking boundaries. She is the first Israeli woman to race in the Moroccan and Emirati off-road circuits and the first Israeli on the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) Women’s Committee. She only took up riding six years ago, rising quickly from local competitions to the global stage and now inspires a new generation of girls to dream big.

Her success, however, hasn’t come without resistance. From criticism that “this is not a sport for a woman” to questions about her sponsors, she’s faced the full range of skepticism reserved for trailblazers. Yet what keeps her going are the countless messages from young girls and families who see in her a role model.

But her journey isn’t just about gender. As an Israeli competing on Arab soil, the political undercurrent is ever-present. After helping a Kuwaiti competitor during a race, Ben Natan later received a hostile anti-Israel message from the same rider. And when she was denied a visa to Qatar, it cost her vital championship points. “Sport should be a neutral zone,” she said.

In Dubai, she was asked if her nationality could be omitted during the race to ensure her safety. She agreed understanding the need but added firmly, “I’m proud of being Israeli and I’m proud that I’m Jewish.”

Her pride, however, is matched by humility and humanity. Despite the pressures, she focuses on her craft. For her, off-road rallying is a meditative trial part navigation, part endurance, and part spiritual focus. “We are all human,” she said. “When we race together, we forget about politics.”

Ben Natan’s clarity became sharper after October 7, when she was racing in Portugal as news of Hamas’s massacre in Israel broke. Friends were killed. Her country was in crisis. Though she raced, her heart was elsewhere. “You don’t really feel comfortable going to another country when you know that your friends are fighting and dying every day,” she said.

Still, she races. Not just to win but to be seen, to represent, and to remind others that beyond politics lie real people, real stories, and real courage.

“I feel like an ambassador,” she said not out of vanity, but from a sense of responsibility. As she prepares to race across the unforgiving dunes of Dubai, her message is simple yet profound: “Be polite to other people, smile, enjoy, and just give good energy and vibes.”

Alona Ben Natan’s journey is a story of grit, grace, and the quiet power of showing up not just as a competitor, but as an Israeli woman with pride and purpose.

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