Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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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 After My Son Came Home From India
When I received the news that my son was returning from India, I was abroad. I was not expecting his return, since I had responded only recently to his urgent email request to renew his medical insurance for the third time. I was livid: How could he do this to me? I seldom travel, and…
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Israel News Ultra-Orthodox Celebrate Rollback of Israel Draft Law
At 21 years old, Yaakov Liwer is eligible to join the Israeli military. But instead, the tall redhead spends his days studying at a yeshiva in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Geula neighborhood. “I wanted to go [to the Israeli Defense Forces],” he explained. “I feel a connection. But Halacha says that people that learn are not allowed…
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Breaking News Israel Coalition Deal May Kill Haredi Draft Law
(JTA) — So, the Israel Defense Forces won’t be drafting haredi Orthodox Israelis, after all. That’s the upshot of a coalition deal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly sign with United Torah Judaism, Israel’s Ashkenazi haredi Orthodox party. The agreement, which Likud and UTJ could ink as soon as Wednesday, would repeal a spate…
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Breaking News Nepal Earthquake Aftershocks Delay IDF Emergency Aid Mission
An Israel Defense Forces emergency aid mission to Nepal was delayed after a runway in the capital city of Kathmandu was damaged by aftershocks. Two jumbo jets containing a search-and-rescue team and a fully equipped field hospital were scheduled to take off on Monday morning after being delayed 12 hours in order to monitor changing…
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Life Meet the Israeli Army’s Chief Gender Officer
You would think that spending two years as a field commander would be enough time in the Israeli military. But after returning to civilian life as a lawyer, Rachel Tevet-Vizel found that there was something missing. “In Israel, it is not enough to be a lawyer,” she says now. “To contribute to this country, you…
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Breaking News Palestinian Teen Dies of Injuries Sustained Last Week in West Bank Clash
A Palestinian teenager died on Wednesday of a gunshot wound sustained a week ago during a confrontation with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, hospital officials said. The officials at Ramallah Hospital said Ali Safi, 17, had been shot through the chest. Witnesses said soldiers had responded to stone-throwing at a protest against a…
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