Universe
Marvel Universe

Real Name
Ruth Bat-Seraph

Aliases
SA-1980, Ruth Ben-Sara (mistranscription)

Identity
Known to Israeli authorities

Citizenship
Israel

Place of Birth
Israel

First Appearance
(cameo) Incredible Hulk #250 (1980), (full) Incredible Hulk #256 (1981)

Arrogant & brusque even as a child, Ruth was recruited into the Israeli Super Soldier program after her mutant powers manifested. She trained in the use of those powers, in myriad forms of combat, & in intelligence gathering. Highly self-motivated, she graduated to the Israeli Super Agents team, where she was given a flight cloak & experimental bracelets which fired paralysis-inducing plasma darts. she took the code name Sabra, which described both a native born Israeli and a sweet prickly pear which grows in Israel.

When Ruth gave birth to a son, Jacob, she requested an in-country position & became a Tel Aviv policewoman, a position she held for years. She worked covertly with Super Agents, once saving a near-dead addict by giving the addict wind-control powers; as Windstorm, the ex-addict joined the Super Agents. Ruth's son died at age 6 when terrorists bombed his school bus, but she continued working as a policewoman until the Hulk entered Tel Aviv & she resumed her Sabra identity to oppose him. Sabra was subsequently sent to Washington D.C. to represent Israel when the Hulk was pardoned, & later unwittingly fought for Death in the Grandmaster's "Contest of Champions", where she was unhappily allied with the Arabian Knight (Abdul Qamar). When Windstorm betrayed the Super Agents, leading the "Israelis for Anarchy" in kidnapping an American ambassador's deaf son, Sabra reclaimed the powers she had given her, leaving Windstorm near death. She imbued the ambassador's son with low-level powers to save his life.

Through a misunderstanding, Sabra battled the Hulk again when he entered Israel to protect young mutant Max Meer from Achilles, & Max was left comatose. She was later assigned to protect the Israeli Prime Minister at a secret peace conference in New York, working alongside Syria's super agent Batal & the American New Warriors. Mind-controlled by an undisclosed foe, Sabra attacked the peace mission before the New Warrior's Justice bought her to her senses; Sabra development a romantic fondness for her rescuer.

With her government's approval, she began working within Charles Xavier's "Mutant Underground," & when Bastion's anti-mutant Operation: Zero Tolerance infiltrated Israeli intelligence, Sabra smuggled data to the X-Men. exposing the infiltration. She became an unofficial liaison between Israel & the mutant community, exposing Magneto's false Erik Lehnsherr identity, aiding the Magneto duplicate Joseph, & working with Excalibur. Her liaison position was made official, & she joined X-Corporation at their Mumbi, India branch. She retained close contact with the X-Men after that facility's destruction, & when Bishop asked Sabra to join his pro-government super-criminal hunters, her government readily assented after briefly assigning her to aid Union Jack (Joey Chapman), USAgent & a new Arabian Knight (David Hasim) against terrorists in London.