Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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Opinion Uproar as Haredi Lawmaker Urges Yeshiva Boys to Join Army, Get Jobs
We’ve been talking a lot lately about the rising proportion of ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Jews in the Israeli population, and the various challenges it poses to Israeli society. Most dramatic are the declining proportion of 18-year-olds who will be available for military service, since the great majority of Haredi men claim an exemption as full-time…
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The Schmooze IDF Soldiers Do a Dance While on Patrol in Hebron
18-year-olds have been known to do some pretty stupid (but entertaining) things. We’ve all been there (and, in most cases, would rather forget ). But a recent Youtube video of six IDF soldiers performing a Macarena-style dance to pop singer Ke$ha’s song “Tik Tok,” while on patrol (not to mention during the Muslim call to…
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Life How Israel’s Mandatory IDF Service Affects How We Parent
I began my phone call to my friend Karen with the same question that has launched all of our recent conversations: “How’s Noah?” And so I get the latest report on her 18-year-old son who recently entered training for a combat unit in the Israel Defense Forces. Noah is the first child of a close…
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Opinion Settlements Aren’t the Problem? Tell the Troops
Israel’s military brass is mildly frantic over a spreading phenomenon of political protest within the infantry ranks by soldiers threatening to disobey if ordered to dismantle settlement structures. Efforts to stem the threats are generating tensions between the military command and a network of army-linked yeshivas. Twice in the past month soldiers in the West…
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Life Offbeat Israel: A College Reference Contingent on Joining the IDF
Want a reference from your teacher? Then enlist in the army. There’s deep concern in the IDF about draft dodging, with the figure of army-age males avoiding compulsory military service nearing a third. Of recent, there have been several unusual moves to stem the trend. One was an advertising campaign harnessing the power of sex…
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Life The Flowers of Mount Hermon
A total settlement freeze in the West Bank still looks a long way off. But there is a scaling back of Israeli activity in another disputed area — the Golan Heights, where the Israel Defense Forces have halted operations on Mount Hermon. Is it a “confidence-building measure” requested by the U.S.? Or could it even…
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Life Leo’s Love on Dodging Draft: ‘Celebrities Have Other Needs’
Israeli model and Leonardo DiCaprio girlfriend Bar Refaeli thinks Israel’s not worth all the trouble. She spoke with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharanot about skipping army duty and moving to L.A.: In her interview, the Israeli model said she was not against army service, even though she never enlisted, having married an acquaintance to evade…
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