Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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Breaking News American F-35 Stealth Jets Arrive in Israel
JERUSALEM — Two F-35 stealth fighter jets touched down in Israel for a handover ceremony from their American pilots to their Israeli pilots. The planes arrived five hours late for the ceremony on Monday after being delayed in Italy due to fog. U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter was in Israel for the arrival of the…
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Life Hashtag Protests Against IDF Sexual Assault Case Inspire Backlash
With Brigadier General Ofek Buchris, an IDF officer convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault, set to receive a generous plea deal, many Israeli army veterans have taken to Facebook to protest. The most popular expression of protest entails individuals (men and women both) recounting minor infractions they engaged in while enlisted, such as unkempt…
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Israel News Military Service Is What Makes Israeli Men Modern-Day Methusalehs: Study
Israeli males can expect to live to older ages than almost any other men in the world. Israeli male life expectancy is 81 years, compared with the global male average of 68.8, according to a 2013 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Now, an Israeli researcher has developed a surprising theory to…
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Israel News Israeli Couple Wins Right To Get Grandchild — Using Dead Son’s Sperm
After a protracted legal battle, an Israeli couple won the right to produce a grandchild using the sperm of their son, who died in a car crash while serving in the Israeli Navy four years ago. Irit and Asher Shahar plan to use a donor egg and surrogate mother to produce a son or daughter…
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Breaking News IDF Chief Rabbi Nominee Says He Never Excused Wartime Rape
JERUSALEM — The nominee for chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces said in a deposition that he never believed rape during wartime is acceptable. Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim submitted a deposition on Wednesday to the Supreme Court, which had suspended his appointment and ordered him to clarify comments he had made a decade earlier that…
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Breaking News IDF Conscription Rate Falls 3.5% Over 5 Years
— The rate of enlistment into the Israel Defense Forces has dropped by 3.5 percent over the past five years, army sources said. In 2016, the IDF saw the conscription of 72 percent of people who are initially listed as duty bound to serve in the military, Army Radio reported Wednesday. Among the 28 percent…
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Israel News My Son’s Killer Is on Trial and No One Informed Me
The video is infamous: In March an Israeli sergeant shot and killed a Palestinian who had already been lying for several minutes in the street, wounded and neutralized, after being shot while stabbing and wounding another soldier. Now, Abdul Fattah Sharif’s death is in its long second phase — the sergeant’s military trial. And though…
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Breaking News Israeli Military Razes West Bank Shelters Built by EU
JERUSALEM — Israel razed five buildings in the West Bank constructed without permits, including three built by the European Union. Forces from the Civil Administration tore down the buildings Tuesday in a Bedouin village near Hebron. A day earlier, three others were razed near Jericho. The buildings taken down Tuesday housed 27 Palestinians, including 16…
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