Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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Forward 50 2015 Michael Dell
Like many other Jewish boys, Michael Dell was supposed to grow up to become a doctor, just like his father. But from early on he had other plans. At the age of 12 Dell already showed his knack for business, making a small fortune from trading stamps and selling newspaper subscriptions. So it was no…
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Breaking News Walmart Takes Heat Over IDF Soldier Costume for Halloween
Walmart is facing a backlash over an Israeli soldier costume on sale for Halloween. The costume, which resembles a uniform worn by Israeli soldiers in elite combat units, is available on the discount department store chain’s website for $27.44, reduced from $57.62. The Walmart Facebook page was flooded with criticism, including calls for a boycott…
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Life Demand for Israeli Combat Soldiers’ Sperm Is on the Rise
Some things are beyond me. I can understand a woman going to a sperm bank so she can have a child, and requesting a smart donor. That makes sense. I can even kind of understand a woman who, in contemporary Israel, chooses to have a blond and blue-eyed donor — assuming her wish stems from…
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News David Gordon Survived Abuse and Gaza War — But Did He Really Commit Suicide?
On an early summer Friday in 2012, David Gordon was exploring the Galilee Mountains, near Tzfat, on his own. An Israeli couple saw him — a friendly-looking 19-year-old — on the trail, and asked if he would take their picture. Gordon happily agreed, and by the end of the conversation, in typical Israeli fashion, he…
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Breaking News Druze Israelis Attack IDF Ambulance Carrying Wounded Syrians
An Israel Defense Forces ambulance carrying wounded Syrians to local hospitals was attacked by Druze residents of Israel. The Israeli Druze asked to check whether the wounded being carried by the ambulance on Monday were rebel members, who have been locked in a civil war with Syrian government forces for more than 4 years, according…
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Breaking News Israel Army Clears Soldiers in ‘Boys on Beach’ Gaza Shelling
Israeli military prosecutors closed a probe into the death of four children in Gaza last year and opened three new ones — including an alleged revenge shelling. The Israel Defense Forces’ announcement Thursday on the closure of the probe said the children’s deaths on a Gaza beach in July as a result of an airstrike…
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Breaking News Grandma’s Pork Sandwich Lands Lone Soldier in IDF Hot Water
An American serving in the Israeli army was sentenced to military jail for bringing non-kosher pork sandwiches to his base and offering them to fellow soldiers. The 11-day sentence was reduced, however, to missing a weekend furlough after an Israel Radio reporter contacted the Israel Defense Forces about the case. Israel Radio was the first…
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Opinion What Breaking the Silence Report Says About Gaza War — and Doesn’t
“Three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty,” Carl von Clausewitz wrote in On War. Von Clausewitz was addressing the unpredictability and uncertainty of even the best-planned military campaigns. Military and political leaders cannot see far and thus need to be…
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Culture A Jewish prophet of the 1980s would be horrified to see that we didn’t heed his warnings
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Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
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Fast Forward Meet Lev Kreitman, who brought down Tel Aviv shooter and survived Nova music festival on Oct. 7
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Fast Forward Nova survivor reveals she witnessed rape on Oct. 7 at Tel Aviv memorial ceremony interrupted by rocket sirens
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Fast Forward In NYC, Jews gather together — and apart — for prayer and protest to mark one year since Oct. 7
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Fast Forward Trump visits gravesite of Lubavitcher Rebbe to mark Oct. 7 anniversary
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Fast Forward Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff plant a pomegranate tree for Oct. 7 victims
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