Israel Defense Forces

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IsraelIsrael Israel Defense Forces
Hebrew צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל
Zva ha-Hagannah lə-Jisraʾel
Badge of the Israel Defense Forces, svg
guide
Commander in Chief : Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Defense Minister: Benny Gantz
Military Commander: Chief of the General Staff Aviv Kochavi
Military leadership: General Staff
Headquarters: Tel Aviv
Military strength
Active soldiers: approx. 160,000 (2016)
Reservists: approx. 630,000
Conscription: Women two years, men 30 months
Resilient population: Men and women; Age 17–49: approximately 3,000,000
Eligibility for military service: Age 17 and over
Share of soldiers in the total population: 1.8%
household
Military budget: 20.1 billion US dollars (2020)
Share of gross domestic product : 5.4% (2015)
history
Founding: May 31, 1948
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces ( Hebrew צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל 'Army of the Defense of Israel' ,  Zva ha-Hagannah lə-Jisraʾel ? / i ; Hebrew acronym :Audio file / audio sample צָהָ״ל Zahal , also Tzahal or Tsahal ; Arabic جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي, DMG Ǧayš ad-Difāʿ al-Isrāʾīlī ; English Israel Defense Forces , abbreviated IDF ) are the military of Israel . Around 176,500 men and women (33%) serve in their three branches of the armed forces , with an additional 630,000 reservists at their disposal. The Israel Defense Forces are widely recognized as the most powerful armed forces in the Middle East .

history

For the history of the Israel Defense Forces, see History of the Jewish Armed Forces in Palestine

founding

The Israel Defense Forces were established on May 31, 1948, and emerged from underground organizations in the Yishuv , the Jewish community in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. The largest founding contingents came in particular from the Hagana and the Palmach , which fought against the British mandate in Palestine . The paramilitary sections of Irgun and Lechi , who rival the Hagana , were also integrated into the army.

It was founded in the turmoil of the Arab-Israeli War , which had been simmering since 1947 , when the competing Jewish organizations recognized the need for cooperation for the common Zionist cause. At this point in time, the armies of Transjordan , Iraq , Lebanon , Egypt and Syria , which were technically and organizationally far superior on paper , had invaded as a reaction to the establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. In the founding phase, the Israeli army had the following strengths:

  1. Golani Brigade (4,100 men)
  2. Carmeli Brigade (2300 men)
  3. Alexandroni Brigade (3600 men)
  4. Kiryati Brigade (2500 men)
  5. Givʿati Brigade (2300 men)
  6. Etzioni Brigade (3300 men)
  7. Mechanized brigade
  8. Panzer Brigade
  9. Oded Brigade
  10. Yiftah Brigade
  11. Harel Brigade
  12. Hanegev Brigade

Artillery, engineers and the air force were directly subordinate to the headquarters . The 1st to 6th Brigade belonged to the Hel Sadeh , a kind of territorial army made up of part-time soldiers with commanders from the ranks of Palmach. The 7th to 9th Brigade had emerged directly from Palmach and formed the core troops, but together only numbered 3,100 men. The Panzer Brigade, of whose two battalions one (the 82nd) ​​was just two companies strong, had two stolen Cromwell tanks as an initial inventory . In addition to these 25,000 or so men, the same number of members of the Chel ha-Mishmar ( Hebrew חֵיל הַמִּשְׁמָר Chejl ha-Mischmar , German for 'Wachkorps' ), but at the beginning of the war there were just 10,000 rifles , 400 light and 180 medium machine guns as well as a handful of revolvers and submachine guns. In terms of artillery, Israel was able to field 763 grenade launchers only two 65 mm cannons from the 19th century with little ammunition.

Early years

With arms deliveries from the Soviet Union and especially Czechoslovakia (assault rifles and machine guns, as well as 25 Avia S-199 fighter planes) as well as Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers from almost all over the world (such as David Marcus ), the Israel Defense Forces succeeded in the to put a stop to the Arab armies and gradually take the offensive . The war ended with Israel's military victory, which from then on existed within the so-called “ Green Line ”. Instead of a peace treaty, four separate armistice agreements were concluded in 1949 because the war opponents refused to give Israel state recognition.

During the Suez Crisis , Israel participated in the British-French attempt to regain control of the nationalized Suez Canal and bring about the overthrow of Gamal Abdel Nasser . Although Israel succeeded in bringing large parts of the Sinai Peninsula under its control, it had to evacuate it after the political failure of the Anglo-French intervention.

At a secret meeting between the General Director of the Defense Ministry, Shimon Peres, and the Federal German Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss in Bonn in the late summer of 1957, Strauss acknowledged Germany's responsibility for the survival of the Jewish state, whose existence was threatened by hostile neighbors, and provided armaments aid and funding totaling 300 million German marks in prospect. Eight years before the two states entered into diplomatic relations, this marked the beginning of a defense cooperation that continues to this day. Israel wants to become more independent from France with the arms business

When Nasser closed the Strait of Tiran to Israeli shipping in 1967 , forced the withdrawal of UN troops from Sinai and deployed 1000 tanks and almost 100,000 soldiers on the borders of Israel, Israel opened the Six Day War with a preventive strike by the Israeli air forces against Egyptian air bases, which should anticipate a feared attack by the Arab states. Although Jordan and Syria intervened in the fighting, Israel controlled the Gaza Strip , the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights , the West Bank and East Jerusalem when the ceasefire occurred .

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Egyptian and Syrian troops equipped with modern Soviet equipment were able to achieve considerable gains in territory in a surprise attack, thus placing Israel in a situation that threatened its very existence. The Israeli material losses were largely compensated by the USA in Operation Nickel Grass . A counter-offensive under the command of Ariel Sharon ultimately led to the collapse of the Egyptian attack.

Younger development

In the north, there have been repeated armed conflicts with various militant groups in Lebanon, of which Hezbollah is still engaged in a low-intensity conflict with Israel today (see Operation Litani , Lebanon War 1982 , Operation Responsibility , Operation Fruits Of Anger, and Lebanon War 2006 ).

In the occupied territories, after the First and Second Intifada, at least in the West Bank, there was a certain degree of calm, while after the evacuation of the Gaza Strip in 2005 the spiral of conflict regularly escalated there (see Operation Cast Lead , Operation Cloud Pillar and Operation Protective Edge ).

Calls

Sherman tank on the Ammunition Hill Memorial (key Jordanian position during the fighting for East Jerusalem in 1967)
A Merkava tank of the Israel Defense Forces during the 1982 Lebanon War
January 2007: Israeli soldiers return from a mission in Lebanon
Merkava main battle tanks in action during Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip July 2014
date Surname comment
1948-1949 War of Independence
1951-1953 Border conflicts
1956 Suez crisis
5th – 10th June 1967 Six Day War
1968 Battle of Karame Attack on Fatah headquarters in Jordan
1968 Operation poison Retaliatory attack on Beirut airport , destroying 13 aircraft
1969-1970 Attrition war with Egypt
1972-1973 Operation Spring of Youth Retaliation for taking Munich hostage during the Olympics
1973 Yom Kippur War
1976 Operation Entebbe Hostage rescue in Uganda
1978 Operation Litani Occupation of southern Lebanon
1981 Operation Opera Destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor
1982 Operation Peace for Galilee 1st Lebanon War
October 1, 1985 Operation Wooden Leg Bombing of the PLO headquarters in Tunis , Tunisia
1987-1991 First intifada
1993 Operation accountable in southern Lebanon
1996 Operation Fruits of Wrath in southern Lebanon
2000-2005 Second intifada
2002 Operation shield in the West Bank
2004 Operation Rainbow in the Gaza Strip
2004 Operation "Days of Penance" in the Gaza Strip
2005 Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in the Gaza Strip
2006 Operation Summer Rain in the Gaza Strip
2006 Operation change of direction 2nd Lebanon War
2006 Operation autumn clouds in the Gaza Strip
2008 Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip
May 31, 2010 Ship-to-Gaza incident
2012 Operation Pillar of Cloud in the Gaza Strip
2014 Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip

assignment

Official definition

Israeli F16A Netz-107 with 6.5 other aircraft shot down and the Iraqi nuclear reactor shot down - a world record for a single F16
Fighters of the Netzach Yehuda Battalion with mitznefet -Helmtarnung
Israeli infantry soldiers prepare for a combat exercise
A female rescue worker

The Israeli army describes its mission as follows:

“To defend the existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Israel. To protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten the daily life. "

"[Our mission is] to defend the existence , territorial integrity and sovereignty of the State of Israel [,] to protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism that threaten everyday life."

- Official website of the Israel Defense Forces

Basic deployment doctrine

The general operational doctrine of the Israel Defense Forces is shaped by the view that, due to its small territorial extent, Israel has no room for defensive war tactics. On the other hand, Israel today has no territorial claims with the exception of the Golan Heights and the West Bank . From this it is deduced that military conflicts, whether prepared or triggered by military escalations, must be prevented on a political level. The military supports this foreign policy guideline with an effective deterrent potential .

Should Israel nevertheless have to wage war, the primary goal of the armed forces is to usurp the strategic initiative and bring the war to an end quickly and with as few losses as possible. Therefore offensive tactics are in the foreground.

Because Israel has a smaller population compared to its neighbors, the opponents of most conflicts, the Israeli military is keen to suffer as few losses as possible. This is expressed e.g. B. in a doctrine that suicide missions to any of the few soldiers to lose explicitly bans on risky missions. Another example is the Merkava tank , which with a state-of-the-art extinguishing system and multiple evacuation hatches, a lot has been done to ensure that the crew can survive if the tank is destroyed. The basic idea is that Israel will find it much easier to get a new tank than to train a new crew.

budget

In 2005 the Israel Defense Forces had a military budget of just under 9.4 billion US dollars . This gave them the largest defense budget in the world per capita . With 7.3% of the gross national income, it is an extraordinarily heavy burden on the Israeli economy for a democratic and market economy-oriented country; in 2002 it was as much as 9.2%. In the Middle East, only the armed forces of Saudi Arabia have a higher proportion. By comparison, the largest military budget in the United States has accounted for no more than 4.5% of gross national income for almost 15 years.

As a strategically important partner of the United States, for example in its categorization as an “important ally outside NATO” in 1989, Israel receives military development aid from them. During the Bush administration's first term from 2001 to 2005, Israel received just under US $ 10.5 billion in the Foreign Military Financing program. The allocation of these funds is, however, tied to the Israeli obligation to use this money exclusively to purchase American armaments that may only be used for the country's own needs. One of the most spectacular arms purchases in this program was the Israeli order for 102 F-16s in 2001. As of 2014, the Israeli armed forces were supported by the US with $ 3.1 billion in annual military aid. An additional $ 1 billion in aid was provided in the 2014 conflict with Gaza. Before the end of his term in office in autumn 2016, US President Obama agreed with Israeli representatives military aid amounting to 38 billion US dollars, spread over the next 10 years.

In the Israeli public, the debate about the budget of the armed forces is of great importance and is discussed annually in the course of the budget consultation of the Knesset . The calls for drastic cuts, which are also frequently made, are particularly sensational.

Since the armed forces of Israel are strongly geared towards symmetrical warfare  - i.e. defense against its neighboring states - this permanent alert is also reflected in the budget. It was not until the 2000s, for example, that editions spread over several years became established. This procedure is a standard military-political procedure in other countries, but Israel considered the commitment to several years earlier an incalculable risk in view of its latent strategic threat.

NBC defense of the engineer corps

organization

organization chart

Structure of the Israel Defense Forces (click to enlarge)

The general staff

The armed forces are under the command of a general staff ( Hebrew הַמַּטֶּה הַכְּלָלִי שֶׁל צָהָ״ל, abbreviated in Hebrew מַטְכָּ"ל- Matkal ). The Chief of the General Staff ( Hebrew רָמַטְכָּ"ל- Ramatkal ) is the only one with the rank Raw-Aluf ( Hebrew רַב־אַלּוּף- comparable to a lieutenant general or general) and is the commander in chief of the armed forces. He reports directly to the Defense Minister and is therefore indirectly subordinate to the Prime Minister of Israel and his government. The Chiefs of Staff ( Ramatkalim ) are appointed by the government for three years on the proposal of the Defense Minister. However, the government has the right to extend his term of service to four (in exceptional cases five) years.

The post of Ramatkal represents a key position in Israel. From there, the next obvious career step leads into the Ministry of Defense and thus into politics. Compared with the chiefs of staff in other countries, the commanders in chief of the Israeli army were often very young. The victories of 1967, 1956, and 1948 were won under Generals Rabin (45 years), Dajan (41 years) and Jadin (32 years).

The chiefs of staff

The following list contains the chiefs of staff with the beginning and the end of their appointment:

Composition of the General Staff

The general staff consists of the following posts (2019):

Post Rank and name
Chief of the General Staff Rav-Aluf Aviv Kochavi
Deputy Chief of the General Staff Aluf Eyal Zamir
Commanding general of the army Aluf Kobi Barak
Director of the Technology and Logistics Department Aluminum ...
Director of the Aman Military Intelligence Service Aluf Tamir Hayman
Director of Human Resources Aluminum ...
Director of the Department of Operations Aluminum ...
Director of the planning and strategy department Aluminum ...
Commander of the Israeli Air Force Aluf Amikam Nurkin
Commander of the Israeli Navy Aluf Eli Scharvit
Commanding General Central Command Aluf Nadav Padan
Commanding General North Command Aluf Yoel Strick
Commanding General South Command Aluf Herzi Halevi
Commanding General Home Front Command Aluf Tamir Yadai
Commander of the military colleges and senior field commander Aluminum ...
Coordinator of government activities in the Israeli occupied territories Aluminum ...
President of the Military Court of Appeal Aluminum ...
Director of the C4I and Senior Field Commander Aluminum ...
Press officer Tat-Aluf Ronen Manelis
Director of the Weapon Systems Development Department Aluminum ...
Head of Accounting Aluminum ...
Military attorney general Aluminum ...
Financial advisor to the Chief of Staff Aluminum ...
Commanding general of the General Staff Corps and commander of training and further education for staff officers Aluminum ...

Main commands

The military command is divided into four main commands, which are structured both regionally and functionally:

Troop strength

Israel does not provide any official information on troop strength either. According to The Military Balance 2005-2006 , the troop strength in 2004 was 168,000 soldiers (107,500 of them conscripts), the number of reservists was 408,000 (380,000 in the army, 3,500 in the navy, 25,000 in the air force).

Armed forces

army

Emblem of the Israeli Ground Forces.svg

Since 1998, the Israeli army has also been formally a separate armed force . The Army Headquarters is stationed at Camp Bar Lev between Ashkelon and Kirjat Malʾachi .

Air Force

Air Force Ensign of Israel.svg

Thanks to the American military aid amounting to around two billion dollars annually, the Israeli air force has developed into one of the most powerful and modern air forces in the region.

marine

Naval Ensign of Israel.svg

Military intelligence

The Directorate of the Aman Military Intelligence Service (אגף מודיעין) reports, among other things, to unit 8200 . This is suspected of being able to wage war in cyberspace .

Combat support

  • C4I-Directorate ( Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence - command, control, communications, computer and intelligence services)
    • C4I Corps
  • Technology and logistics department
    • Logistics Corps (replenishment and repair)
    • Ordonnance Corps (witness office)
    • Medical Corps
  • HR department
  • Military courts and military lawyers
  • Military schools and military academy

Special forces

The special units of the Israeli army are shaped by the Special Night Squads founded by the British officer Orde Wingate , which was a Jewish special unit for reconnaissance and covert warfare in Arab regions from 1936 to 1938. The prototype of all subsequent units was the unit 101 , which was set up in August 1953 and which was integrated into the 890 paratrooper battalion in January 1954.

Existing special forces are:

Other security guards

  • Aman (military intelligence)

Volunteer programs

Uniforms

Ranks

In contrast to many other states, Israel uses the same ranks for all branches of the armed forces. Corresponding NATO rank codes are given for comparison . The rank badges in the form shown were introduced in 2002. In the navy, the badges of rank are kept in the colors customary for naval forces, for example gold on dark blue for the large uniform.

Officers
Rav-Aluf
רב-אלוף 		Aluf
אלוף 		Tat-Aluf
תת-אלוף 		Aluf
Mishne אלוף משנה 		Sgan Aluf
סגן אלוף 		Rav-
Sera רב סרן 		sera
סרן 		Blessing
סגן 		Blessings
Mishne סגן-משנה
OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1b OF-1a
IDF Ranks Ra'al.svg
IDF Ranks Aluf.svg
IDF Ranks Ta'al.svg
IDF Ranks Alam.svg
IDF Ranks Sa'al.svg
IDF Ranks Rasan.svg
IDF Ranks Seren.svg
IDF Ranks Blessing.svg
IDF Ranks Sagam.svg
NCOs
Rav-Negad
רב נגד 		Rav-Negad Mishne
רב נגד משנה 		Rav-Samal Bachir
רב סמל בכיר 		Rav-Samal Mitkadem
רב סמל מתקדם 		Rav-Samal Rishon
רב סמל ראשון 		Rav-Samal
רב סמל
OR-9 OR-9 OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6
IDF Ranks Ranag.svg
IDF Ranks Ranam.svg
IDF Ranks Rasab.svg
IDF Ranks Rasam.svg
IDF Ranks Rasar.svg
IDF Ranks Rasal.svg
Teams
Samal Rishon
סמל ראשון 		Samal
סמל 		Rav-Turaʾi
רב טוראי 		Turaʾi Rishon
טוראי ראשון 		Turaʾi
טוראי
OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
IDF Ranks Samar.svg
IDF Ranks Samal.svg
IDF Ranks Rav turai.svg
IDF Ranks Private First Class.png
 no badge

Remarks

  1. ↑ Formally, the military rank structure of Israel does not have a rank of general (OF-9), but since the chief of staff is the only one who holds the rank of lieutenant general (Rav-Aluf) and is commander of the armed forces, his rank is at least internationally with that of a general due to his service position ( OF-9) comparable.
  2. ↑ The leaf-shaped symbol on the shoulder boards of senior officers is colloquially known as falafel by the crews .
  3. ↑ For some time now, the first promotion in the team career has been straight to Rav-Turaʾi, the rank of Turaʾi Rishon is no longer awarded.

Beret colors

M113 "Zelda" personnel carrier , Israel 2005

equipment

Arms imports

The first weapons purchases were made in Czechoslovakia in 1948 . They included assault rifles and machine guns as well as 25 Avia S-199 fighter planes, which contained numerous parts of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 . At the time, other weapons came from Great Britain and France, which became Israel's most important arms supplier in the 1950s.

Equipped with the French CN-75-50 75mm cannon of the AMX-13 , an adapted turret and a more powerful diesel engine instead of the original gasoline engine, the M4 Sherman , a model from World War II, was developed from 1955 to the M-50 Isherman. The first two dozen of the M-50s were already in service during the Suez crisis of 1956. At the beginning of the 1960s, almost 300 M-50s made up the bulk of the Israeli tank units. Another 180 Sherman tanks were further developed with a shortened French CN-105-57 105mm L / 44 cannon of the AMX-30 to the M-51 Super Sherman, which were used with success in the Six Day War of 1967.

French President Charles de Gaulle imposed an arms embargo on Israel on June 2, 1967, just before the outbreak of the Six Day War . After the Six Day War which supplied Soviet Union , the Egyptian Armed Forces and Syria with weapons, while the United States were the most important arms supplier of Israel.

Much of the Israeli army equipment today is American-made; but also from other NATO countries including Germany, and weapons are also imported from Russia and India . The state armaments companies Israel Military Industries and Israel Aerospace Industries also carry out their own further and new developments, for example with air-to-air missiles or the Merkava tank.

The numbers of Israeli equipment are 1,230 aircraft, 14,200 battle tanks and armored vehicles, 2,783 artillery pieces, 3,153 ballistic missiles and 18 sea units.

In the past this has led to diplomatic entanglements with the USA. So Israel developed with India early 2000s, the Barak air defense system , which to date each NATO - air defense is superior, and put his own extensive disposal of American schemes. There was also a conflict in 2004 in which Israel resold to China a further development of US weapon systems that had been supplied to the People's Republic in the 1990s without - as agreed - obtaining US approval.

Nuclear weapons

Harpoon missile

Israel is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty . It is widely believed to have nuclear weapons.

Today it is believed that Israel has around 200 nuclear warheads . The Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu published numerous insights into the Israeli nuclear weapons program, for which he was charged and convicted. In the 1970s there was a secret joint nuclear weapons research with South Africa .

The official policy of the government is not to comment on this question, that is, neither admit nor deny ownership. An interview in December 2006, in which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert named Israel as well as France, the USA and Russia in a list of nuclear powers, was viewed by the international press as an indirect admission of Israeli nuclear weapons possession and at the same time as a threat and a reply to Iran .

The military experts assume that Israel has both bomb and missile warheads. Of particular interest are the possible nuclear weapon carriers on board the six Dolphin-class submarines built in Germany , which can fire both the Israeli cruise missile Popeye Turbo and AGM-84 Harpoon missiles and medium-range missiles of Russian design.

Chemical and biological weapons

Israel has not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. Israel has not ratified the Bioweapons Convention either. The Israel Institute for Biological Research , founded in 1952, serves as the research facility in the biological and chemical field . It emerged from the "Hemed Beit" unit formed in 1948 for biological warfare based in Jaffa.

When the cargo flight El-Al-Flug 1862 crashed in Amsterdam on October 4, 1992, there were also 240 kilograms of the chemical dimethylmethylphosphonate for the Israel Institute for Biological Research on board, which can be used, among other things, as a raw material for the neurotoxin sarin .

Bill Richardson , Secretary of State for the US Department of Defense under Reagan and Bush, stated in 1998 that he had no doubts about Israeli developments in chemical and biological weapons: “I have no doubt that Israel has worked on both chemical and biological offensive things for a long time . (...) There's no doubt they've had stuff for years, but getting anybody to say anything publicly about it is going to be pretty hard. "

Scientists at the Swedish Defense Research Agency concluded in December 2005 that it was not possible to say whether the chemical and biological weapons program capacities developed in the past are still active. "Israel has developed offensive chemical and biological warfare (CBW) capabilities in the past, but it has not been possible to conclude if these offensive programs still remain active."

Hand weapons

Pistols

Submachine guns

Shotguns

Assault rifles

Sniper rifles

Light machine guns

Recruitment and training

Bedouins of the Israel Defense Forces

Conscription

Israeli policewoman armed in the tram

In Israel, two years of military service are required for women and 30 months for men . All non-Jewish, pregnant or married women, Charedic (“ultra-orthodox”) yeshiva students (as of 2011) and Israeli Arabs are exempt from military service, although they are free to serve in the army. Legally, only women are allowed not to do military service for reasons of conscience (since in the opinion of many Orthodox Jews only the man is obliged to defend Israel) and to do a civilian alternative service ( sherut leumi ) of one or two years. Combined programs called Hesder have been set up for Jews who want to combine religious studies in an appropriate study facility (yeshiva) with military service . The minorities of the Circassians , Druze , Samaritans and the Arab Negev Beduins also serve in the army. After the founding of the state, the political leaders of the Druze decided to forego the privilege of exemption from military service and to contribute to the defense of Israel. Even without legal obligation, it has become a tradition for many Bedouin tribes to serve in the IDF. Because of their nomadic origin, they are valued primarily as enlighteners and persecutors.

For men, denial of military service is a lengthy procedure with several hearings, at the end of which the conscientious objector has to answer to a committee of conscience . This may be followed by court proceedings (comparable to total refusal in Germany), at the end of which the refuser is almost always exempt from military service, but can possibly be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years. As an alternative to refusal within the armed forces, posts outside of the combat units are generally accepted, for example when giving civil defense lessons in schools.

In contrast to women who do alternative service, men who do not fulfill their military service are often socially ostracized to this day, since in Israel it is usually taken for granted that a man should do military service. Refusal can also lead to social disadvantage. The same applies to being withdrawn for the use of illegal drugs, including “ soft drugs ”. In recent times, however, refusal has become increasingly socially accepted (also among men).

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Talmud students from military service was unconstitutional. In 2014 a law was passed that limited the scope of exemptions and postponements in military service. As a result, the proportion of ultra-Orthodox Jews doing military service rose sharply. In the early years of Israel, around 400 Charedi Jews were exempted from conscription. For 2013, the number was estimated at 60,000 to 70,000. In 2017 there were only 2,848 exemptions and 27,440 postponements.

Reserve service

Reserve officers on a parachute exercise
An Israeli soldier gives shoulder boards to a Sar-El volunteer ( Negev , April 2005)

Conscription is followed by one month of reserve service ( miluim ) per year; for men up to the age of 42 (or 51 for officers) and for women up to the age of 24. Not all women and men are drafted into reserve services every year, but a very large proportion are. This usually happens in the same units; bringing together comrades who are already known to one another from active service serves to increase the morale of the troops.

Reserve service has traditionally been seen as a very important part of Israel's defense policy, as suggested by a quotation from a chief of staff of the "soldier with eleven months of vacation". This is due to the very small population of Israel in regional comparison.

Because of the country's small west-east expansion, the speed of mobilization of the largest possible reservist contingents is of great importance. An association of any size must therefore be fully equipped and organized in a maximum of 48 hours and ready for use on any front section. In fact, most units achieve this goal in 24 hours. Air force units in particular, which consist of reservists, are ready for action within 12 hours.

Attitudes towards those who do not do military service have eased slightly since the 1980s, as Israel's existence has since been considered secure. According to War Resisters International , men over 35 are often no longer drafted into reserve service, and men aged 41 or 45 are usually discharged from service. Women are generally not called up for reserve duty at all.

Since such a reserve service mode, despite all predictability, represents a far-reaching interference in the lifestyle of the individual and his environment, various Israeli bodies are concerned with ways of better integrating the reserve service into the lifestyle. No Israeli student falls behind in their studies when drafted. The Institute of National Insurance regulates the salary of reservists in such a way that both employers and employees are compensated for loss of earnings or profit. The self-employed are also reimbursed for loss of earnings up to a certain upper limit.

Voluntary service

The Israel Defense Forces are a classic conscript army. Nevertheless, one can also undertake there beyond basic military service. For Jewish non-Israelis between the ages of 18 and 23, there is also the option of voluntarily going to the so-called Machal units of the armed forces for 14.5 months . Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers from abroad can also serve without a weapon for a short time through the Sar-El program. Numerous reservists also voluntarily do reserve service beyond the age limit for mandatory reserve service.

The Equality in Uniform initiative enables people with health restrictions, such as Asperger's Syndrome, Trisomy 21, to rely on a wheelchair or who are deaf and for this reason cannot do regular service, to volunteer in the army .

Women

Participants in an officer course
Israeli women soldiers unload their weapons
Israeli soldier

Since the founding of Israel, Israeli women have also been subject to general conscription. However, around a third of women are exempted from service, mostly for religious reasons.

During the War of Independence, many women took active part in fighting because of the lack of personnel, but later they were denied service in combat units. Instead, they served in a variety of technical and administrative support posts.

In 1994, Alice Miller, a Jewish immigrant from South Africa, told the Supreme Court of a landmark decision that the Israeli Air Force should open its pilot training to women. During the War of Independence and the Sinai Campaign, women had already flown transport machines, but the Air Force later closed its ranks for women. Alice Miller then failed the recruitment test, but numerous uses were opened to women because of her initiative. The first female fighter pilot received her pilot's badge in 2001. As of 2005, 83 percent of all military posts have been open to women, including service in the artillery and on warships (with the exception of submarines). Around 450 women are currently serving in combat units in the Israeli security forces, most of them in the border police. However, the use in combat units for women is voluntary.

In 2002, 33 percent of the two lieutenant ranks and 21 percent of captains and majors, but only 3 percent of senior officers were women. With a controversially discussed decision, the women's corps command was dissolved in 2004 on the grounds that it was a contradiction and an obstacle to the full integration of women as normal soldiers without special status in the armed forces. However, at the insistence of feminists , the chief of staff retained the post of adviser on women's affairs.

Candidates for sergeants from the IDF at a course

The service in the armed forces has a great influence as a contact exchange as well as an initiation rite . However, with very few exceptions, the higher officer ranks are in fact reserved for men, who also have easier access to civil networks and careers. The gender-specific distribution of roles in Israel is therefore still more traditional than in Western Europe, for example.

LGBT

Homosexuals were never excluded from military service in principle. In the first few years, however, there were restrictions for certain uses due to assumed safety risks.

In 1993 - with the support of Prime Minister Rabin  - homosexuals were admitted to service in all units of the Israel Defense Forces through the amendments to military regulation K-31-11-01. In August 2013, the first trans woman was drafted into the Israeli military. An increasing number of soldiers profess their sexual orientation and reprisals are low, so that the Palm Center in California found no overall decline in combat strength in a study.

The 2002 film Yossi & Jagger takes up this theme . The sequel film Yossi (2012) (with the same actor) ten years later reflects the ongoing liberalization in dealing with sexual minorities in the Israeli army.

Everyday work

After a basic training that is tough by international standards, soldiers are given more freedom than in other armies. There is a suit order, but it does not always have to be adhered to. For example, wearing private shoes on duty is permitted as long as it is black. Military greetings are rather uncommon, superiors go to watch, many of the officers are conscripts and receive only slightly higher pay than the men. However, there is a strict alcohol ban on all military facilities.

Homecoming

It is a principle of the army that soldiers are brought home from action under all circumstances - dead or alive. This is an important moral factor for the soldiers. Large-scale campaigns and prisoner exchanges were carried out for the retrieval of captured or kidnapped soldiers. Even for the remains of fallen soldiers, prisoners are released. Including Gilad Schalit , a total of 16 Israeli soldiers had been exchanged for 13,509 Arab prisoners by October 2011.

Table of missing and kidnapped soldiers:

Surname Missed since place Whereabouts comment
Ron Arad October 16, 1986 His plane crashes near Sidon, southern Lebanon
Adi Avitan October 7, 2000 kidnapped near the Shebaa farms Declared dead at the beginning of November 2001 on the basis of intelligence from the secret service. On January 30, 2004 the three bodies were handed over in exchange for 436 prisoners.
Benjamin Avraham October 7, 2000 kidnapped near the Shebaa farms Declared dead at the beginning of November 2001 on the basis of intelligence from the secret service. On January 30, 2004 the three bodies were handed over in exchange for 436 prisoners.
Sacharia Baumel June 11, 1982 Tank battle by Sultan Yacoub El Thata , southern Lebanon On April 3, 2019, it was announced that the remains had been brought from Syria to Israel via Russia in March 2019. His body was in the Al-Yarmuk refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus. In compensation, a total of four Syrians were released from an Israeli prison and deported to Syria. Last seen alive on a "victory parade" of a PLO unit. In December 1993, PLO chief Yasser Arafat presented half of the identification tag to Israeli diplomats.
Zvi Feldmann June 11, 1982 Tank battle by Sultan Yacoub El Thata , southern Lebanon Last seen alive on a "victory parade" of a PLO unit.
Ehud Goldwasser July 12, 2006 Hezbollah kidnapping on the Lebanon border On July 16, 2008, his remains came to Israel in exchange for four Lebanese prisoners of war and the convicted terrorist Samir Kuntar .
Guy Hever 17th August 1997 Disappeared on the Golan Suspected in a Syrian prison
Yehuda Katz June 11, 1982 Tank battle by Sultan Yacoub El Thata , southern Lebanon Last seen alive on a "victory parade" of a PLO unit.
Eldad Regev July 12, 2006 Hezbollah kidnapping on the Lebanon border On July 16, 2008, his remains came to Israel in exchange for four Lebanese prisoners of war and the convicted terrorist Samir Kuntar .
Omar Sawayed October 7, 2000 kidnapped near the Shebaa farms Declared dead at the beginning of November 2001 on the basis of intelligence from the secret service. On January 30, 2004 the three bodies were handed over in exchange for 436 prisoners. Arab Bedouin
Gilad Shalit June 25, 2006 Kidnapped on the border with the Gaza Strip Release on October 18, 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners

Remembrance day

With the " Remembrance Day for the Fallen of the Campaigns of Israel and the Victims of the Acts of Hate " Jam HaSikaron a separate national holiday was established. It is one day before Israel's Independence Day . From the time the state was established to the 2002 public holiday, 21,182 Israelis have died.

Social significance

The Zahal is known as the "army of the people" and "school of the nation". This appreciation results on the one hand from the fact that members of almost every Israeli family - with the exception of a part of the Arab and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population group - know the army service from personal experience and have friends or relatives who died or were wounded in one of the Middle East wars. The army plays an important role in the civic and patriotic education of the young generation, in the “amalgamation” of different ethnic groups and in the linguistic and social integration of new immigrants. It is not uncommon for school or vocational qualifications to be obtained during the service. Many marriages and business relationships are also based on contacts made during military service.

Humanitarian aid

Israeli soldiers treat an injured Palestinian

After the Gölcük earthquake in 1999 , the Israeli government sent 250 soldiers, dogs and rescue equipment to the crisis area. The Israeli army provided humanitarian aid several times in various crisis regions around the world. For example, after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, rescue units and medical units were sent to Haiti from the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces.

Israeli soldiers rescue an 80-year-old Lebanese woman from a barbed wire fence

In the course of the Syrian civil war , the Israeli armed forces provided humanitarian aid on several occasions. Among other things, they recovered wounded FSA fighters on the Syrian-Israeli border on the Golan near Majdal Schams in February 2013 . They received emergency care and placed in the Zefat / Safed hospital in the western Galilee . As a result, a field hospital was set up in the immediate vicinity of the border to care for the Syrian wounded.

Fighters from the Al-Nusra Front and al-Qaida also received medical care.

After the earthquake in Nepal , a 260-strong relief delegation was sent to take care of the injured.

After the dam breach at Brumadinho in Brazil , 130 Israeli soldiers were sent there at the end of January 2019 to search for people missing in the masses of mud with special sonar devices .

literature

items

Web links

Commons : Israel Defense Forces  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Israel Military Strength. Current military capabilities and available firepower for 2016 detailed Globalfirepower, last seen on January 31, 2017
  2. ↑ a b https://www.nzz.ch/international/israeli-muessen-nur-noch-zweieinhalb-jahre-wehrdienst-listen-ld.1564142?reduced=true
  3. ↑ Israeli military spending from 2004 to 2019. Accessed July 25, 2020
  4. ↑ Share of military spending of the 15 countries with the highest military spending in relation to their respective gross domestic product in 2015 , statista, the statistics portal, last seen on January 31, 2017.
  5. ↑ Source: The Middle East Military Balance: Definition, Regional Developments and Trends (PDF; 704 kB) of the CSIS of March 23, 2005, p. 12. Authors: Anthony H. Cordesman and Khalid Al-Rodhan. Date of discovery: June 27, 2007.
  6. ↑ "[...] the Israelis maintain the strongest army in the Middle East.", From: Leon de Winter: Forcing Peace. In: Die Zeit, 26/2003, June 26, 2003. Accessed September 7, 2008.
  7. ^ Israel is today the greatest military power located in the Middle East. , from: Wallerstein, Immanuel: Five Reasons Why Great Military Powers Lose Wars ( Memento from October 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), August 15, 2006. Accessed September 7, 2008.
  8. ↑ Stephen M. Walt : "[...] it has the strongest army in the region [...]". See Christian Ultsch: US political scientists: "Israel is fueling the threat of terrorism for the USA" . In: The press . November 12, 2007 (Interview with John J. Mearsheimer and Walt)
  9. ^ A b John Laffin, Mike Chappell: The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars 1948–73. London 1982, p. 9.
  10. ^ John Laffin, Mike Chappell: The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars 1948-73. London 1982, p. 8f.
  11. ^ John Laffin, Mike Chappell: The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars 1948-73. London 1982, pp. 7-9.
  12. ↑ Friedrich Schreiber, Michael Woffssohn: the Middle East. History and structure of the conflict. Opladen 1989, p. 138.
  13. ^ Katrin Bock: The Jewish community in Prague in the 20th century. Report on Radio Prague on April 9, 2005 , accessed on January 21, 2008
  14. ↑ Thorsten Jungholt: Bundeswehr should learn house-to-house combat in Israel . In: THE WORLD . August 30, 2015 ( welt.de [accessed February 16, 2020]).
  15. ↑ 1957: Christmas secret deal with Israel - VDI nachrichten. December 24, 2019, accessed on April 13, 2020 (German).
  16. ↑ IDF Mission Statement on the official website ( Memento from November 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Israel's operational doctrine ( Memento of August 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ To ensure its success, the IDF's doctrine at the strategic level is defensive, while its tactics are offensive. - Source: GlobalSecurity.org on the Israel Defense Forces.
  19. ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute : Military expenditure as a share of GDP, 2001-2007 (table) ( Memento of July 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), in: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: Military Spending and Armament. Accessed July 14, 2009.
  20. ↑ US Military Assistance and Arms Transfers to Israel: US Aid, Companies Fuel Israeli Military. Publication ( Memento of August 14, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) by Frida Berrigan and William D. Hartung at the World Policy Institute on July 20, 2006. Found on July 17, 2007
  21. ↑ Press release ( memento of October 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) by Lockheed Martin from June 19, 2001. Accessed on July 17, 2007
  22. ↑ Hans-Christian Rössler: Fear of Obama's revenge. faz.net, October 31, 2014, accessed November 1, 2014
  23. ↑ Middle East expert on the USA and Israel: "There is a total split" - taz.de
  24. ↑ Peter Baker and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, "US Finalizes Deal to Give Israel $ 38 Billion in Military Aid," New York Times, September 13, 2016
  25. ↑ Second lebanon War, priorities budget: Israel's Defense Budget. : "Each of these two examples represents a possible saving of billions of shekels. The “right budget” is the budget that reflects the acceptable degree of risk and the alternative price (i.e., which “civilian” objectives would we have to forego to allow a solution to these threats.) “. Article by Giora Eiland on CanadaFreePress.com dated June 18, 2007. Accessed July 17, 2007.
  26. ↑ List of Chiefs of Staff ( Memento of May 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  27. ↑ IDF - General Staff (2019) (English)
  28. ↑ The Special Forces of the Israeli Army In: Israelnetz.de , September 14, 2018, accessed on September 16, 2018.
  29. ↑ The Special Forces of the Israeli Army In: Israelnetz.de , September 14, 2018, accessed on September 16, 2018.
  30. ^ Johann Althaus: Six Day War: Israel won thanks to this tuned oldie tank . In: THE WORLD . June 12, 2017 ( welt.de [accessed March 31, 2020]).
  31. ^ Article by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies ( Memento from May 30, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (English, PDF )
  32. ↑ Source: GlobalFirepower.com ( Memento from December 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). Accessed November 28, 2007.
  33. ↑ Asia Times : US up in arms over Sino-Israel ties December 21, 2004 (English)
  34. ^ "Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear capability" The Military Balance 2009, International Institute for Strategic Studies , p. 249.
  35. ^ Nuclear deal with South Africa: Israel allegedly offered atomic bombs to the apartheid regime. Der Spiegel , May 24, 2010, accessed on November 14, 2010 .
  36. ↑ Tagesschau Olmert is supposed to provide information about nuclear weapons ( memento of August 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), December 13, 2006
  37. ^ United Nations Treaty Collection. Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction. ( online )
  38. ^ Membership of the Biological Weapons Convention. United Nations Office At Geneva. ( online )
  39. ↑ a b Magnus Normark, Anders Lindblad, Anders Norqvist, Björn Sandström, Louise Waldenström: Israel and WMD: Incentives and Capabilities. Swedish Defense Research Agency, December 2005 ( online ( Memento of February 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
  40. ^ Protests against a secret bio-institute near Tel Aviv. Fear and official words about Nes Ziona. In: Berliner Zeitung , October 5, 1998 ( online )
  41. ↑ Jeff Stein: Debunking the "ethno-bomb". December 2, 1998, salon.com ( online )
  42. ↑ Norbert Jessen: Israel's army wants to use more Arabs for military service . Die Welt August 7, 1999. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  43. ^ The minorities are exempted, except the Druze. The Druze leaders decided, early on, to throw in the lot of their community with the nascent Jewish state and, as a token of loyalty, voluntarily waived the exemption to which they were entitled. Some Bedouin tribes have a tradition of voluntary service, primarily as trackers, an art in which they have excelled for generations. Overview by Dr. Netanel Lorch at the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Accessed July 16, 2007.
  44. ↑ see also [1] In the dispute over military service for Orthodox Jews, the Kadima party leaves the ruling coalition. But Netanyahu can continue to rule - for the time being (July 2012); [2] Israel plans conscription for ultra-Orthodox.
  45. ↑ handelsblatt.de, Protest against conscription - Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators paralyze Jerusalem , March 2, 2014
  46. ↑ The number of Haredim in the army has risen sharply. In: Israelnetz .de. December 5, 2018, accessed December 28, 2018 .
  47. ↑ Israel's reserve system is based on the assumption that every citizen "is a soldier on eleven months vacation", as one Chief of Staff put it. Overview at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
  48. ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: SPOTLIGHT ON ISRAEL Israel has hardly any strategic depth; it may - as the Yom Kippur War attested - be subject to a surprise attack. Speed ​​of mobilization is, therefore, an absolute priority: 48 hours, including distribution of equipment and dispatch of the unit to its allocated sector of the front, is considered the outer limit; 24 hours is the norm, but there are units - particularly in the Air Force - where this has been reduced to 12 hours.
  49. ↑ Israeli Foreign Ministry: SPOTLIGHT ON ISRAEL Reserve duty causes a great deal of hardship, particularly at the stage when young people set out to establish themselves. There are interruptions of production schedules, of university studies, of the normal flow of economic activity. In order to minimize the impact, a series of mixed civilian-military committees was set up to consider requests for deferment: certain industries or services have been declared essential and their personnel are exempted from reserve duty; for students there are deferred examinations and no student will miss a year on account of reserve service. Remuneration of reserves is arranged through the Institute of National Insurance. Workers continue to draw regular pay and the employer is compensated by the Institute. Self-employed persons are compensated up to a specified ceiling.
  50. ↑ Rivlin honors soldiers In: israelnetz.de. Israelnetz , April 20, 2018, accessed May 1, 2018.
  51. ↑ Keren Greenblat: Militarization, Religion and the "Demographic Threat". In: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Israel Office. March 8, 2017, archived from the original on June 7, 2017 ; accessed on June 18, 2017 .
  52. ↑ Daniela Horvath: Instructions on Sexual Unhappiness , Stern from April 28, 2008
  53. ↑ a b The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality , Vol. I – IV 1997–2001, edited by Robert T. Francoeur , entry on Israel, status 1994, by Ronny A. Shtarkshall and Minah Zemach
  54. ↑ Lee Walzer: Between Sodom and Eden. A gay journey through today's changing Israel. New York 2000, ISBN 0-231-11394-3 , pp. 118f (English); also: Danny Kaplan: Brothers and Others in Arms. The Making of Love and War in Israeli Combat Units. New York / London / Oxford 2003, ISBN 1-56023-364-8 (English) and a German article .
  55. ^ Israel drafts first transgender female soldier
  56. ↑ Homosexuality and the Israel Defense Forces - Did Lifting the Gay Ban Undermine Military Performance? ( Memento of September 28, 2007 on the Internet Archive ) by Aaron Belkin and Melissa Levitt, June 2000. Accessed July 24, 2007.
  57. ^ Bravo for these people, these Israelis , Ha-Aretz on October 18, 2011
  58. ↑ Remains of the missing soldier Baumel brought to Israel. In: Israelnetz .de. April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019 .
  59. ↑ International involvement in missing soldiers. In: Israelnetz .de. April 5, 2019, accessed April 29, 2019 .
  60. ↑ Israel releases two Syrian prisoners. In: Israelnetz .de. April 29, 2019, accessed May 1, 2019 .
  61. ↑ Israel releases prisoners. Israelnetz.de , January 10, 2020, accessed on January 19, 2020 .
  62. ↑ [3] accessed on August 20, 2017
  63. ↑ Remembrance Day for the Fallen and Independence Day 2002. Israelnetz.de , April 15, 2002, accessed on November 11, 2019 .
  64. ^ Israeli Aid for Turkish Earthquake Victims
  65. ↑ bashing Israel for saving Haitians. In: Haaretz.com. June 14, 2015, accessed December 6, 2015 .
  66. ↑ ARD video blog: Between the Mediterranean and Jordan - Humanitarian Aid for the Enemy (accessed: March 7, 2014)
  67. ↑ The Jerusalem Post Report: Israel treating al-Qaida fighters wounded in Syria civil war (accessed: May 17, 2018)
  68. ↑ Newsletter of the Embassy of the State of Israel of April 27, 2015
  69. ↑ Newsletter of the Embassy of the State of Israel, April 30, 2015
  70. ↑ RP ONLINE: More than 300 people missing: At least 58 dead in a dam break in Brazil. Retrieved January 28, 2019 .
  71. ↑ cf. The War for Israel's Survival - alternet.org