This is the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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The Latest
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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward Why some Satmar Hasidic leaders endorsed Zohran Mamdani as mayor, stunning many Jewish voters
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News How Mamdani became New York’s next mayor, with Jews divided between fierce opposition and fiery support
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Culture Mamdani’s first statement on antisemitism as mayor-elect got some weird pushback
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Opinion I’m an Israeli who lives in New York. Here’s why I’m voting for Mamdani
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Culture Mamdani’s first statement on antisemitism as mayor-elect got some weird pushback
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Film & TV On the trail of a priceless dove, a group of Palestinians and Israelis find that peace is for the birds
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