Ruth Bat-Seraph was born near Jerusalem, Israel. She was raised on a special kibbutz run by the Israeli government after her power manifested. Ruth was the first superhuman agent to serve with the Mossad (the Israeli secret service). She became a police officer in addition to serving as a government agent. Her first public act as Sabra was a battle with the Hulk, whom she mistakenly believed was working with Arab terrorists operating in Israel. Not long after that, Sabra was chosen as a pawn of Death in the latter's game against the Grandmaster. There, she met Iron Man and the Arabian Knight, and battled She-Hulk and Captain Britain. She later appeared at the Hulk's amnesty ceremony in Washington, D.C. Some years later, Sabra's young son was killed in a terrorist attack. She disobeyed orders in order to bring her son's killers to justice.