This is the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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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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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward Israel May Probe Gaza Scorched-Earth ‘Hannibal Directive’ That Killed 40
The Israeli military is expected to decide shortly whether to launch a criminal probe into the implementation of the Hannibal directive on the day 1st Lt. Hadar Goldin was snatched into a tunnel during Operation Protective Edge last summer. The directive clarifies the procedures to be used immediately following the possible abduction of a soldier….
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Fast Forward Scholarship Endowed in Memory of IDF Lone Soldier Max Steinberg
A scholarship endowment fund has been established in memory of Max Steinberg, an American lone soldier killed in Gaza during the summer’s Operation Protective Edge. The Max Steinberg Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund was established by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in partnership with the fallen soldier’s parents, Stuart and Evelyn, and his siblings, Paige and…
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Fast Forward Haredi Protestors Arrested During Draft Dodger Demonstration
Israel Police arrested about 40 haredi Orthodox protesters in the southern city of Ashdod during a demonstration on behalf of four yeshiva students arrested for missing their army induction. Hundreds of haredi men and boys protested Monday in Ashdod, Jerusalem and at major intersections in the area against the arrest of the yeshiva students, who…
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