This is the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
IDF
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Fast Forward Israeli Human Rights Group No Longer An Alternative to Military Service
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem is no longer eligible for Israeli national service volunteer placements because it has acted “against the state and its soldiers.” In a letter to B’Tselem, the head of the national service program, which coordinates placements for young Israelis doing national civilian service as an alternative to military service, said he…
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Fast Forward 1,000 Gather For Max Steinberg’s Memorial Service in Los Angeles
A memorial service for fallen Israel Defense Forces soldier Max Steinberg, a California native, drew 1,000 people. The service Tuesday night, held at Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, paid tribute to Steinberg’s American childhood and his service in the IDF, according to the Times of Israel. Steinberg, 24, a sharpshooter in the Golani brigade, joined…
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News German Newspaper Publishes Faces of Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza
Germany’s most widely read daily newspaper, Bild Zeitung, published the faces of the 64 Israeli soldiers killed in the current conflict in Gaza. Together with short biographies of a few soldiers, the images appeared in the Monday edition of the paper under the headline “Israel’s War Against the Hamas Terrorists: Faces of the fallen.” Among…
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The Schmooze Wanted: Israeli Soldiers’ Sperm
Getty Images Soldiers serving in combat units in the Israel Defense Forces are now being asked to make another sacrifice: donating their sperm. Israeli parents seeking sperm donors at the Rambam Medical Center have shown a noticeable preference for the sperm of combat soldiers in the wake of the Gaza conflict. In recent weeks, nearly…
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Fast Forward Israel Seeks To Get Soldier’s Body for Burial
The Israeli government is making every effort to retrieve the body of Sgt. Oron Shaul for burial, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told the slain soldier’s family. “It’s obvious to us that Oron’s body is in the hands of Hamas, and we’re making every effort to retrieve it,” Yaalon said Sunday during a meeting with…
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Fast Forward South Africa May Charge Jews Who Serve in Israeli Army
South African authorities said they will prosecute citizens who serve in the Israel Defense Forces. The warning earlier this week came after a pro-Palestinian advocacy group opened a case against Dean Goodson of Cape Town, who reportedly is serving in the IDF. Action Forum in Support of Palestine told the South Africa Independent online that…
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Israel News Sex, War, Social Media and the Israeli Imagination
The war in Gaza, known in Israel as Operation Strong Cliff, may have wound down. But memories still linger of the parallel Facebook campaign called Girls Keeping the Cliff Strong. The Facebook campaign, which drew tens of thousands of clicks during the fighting, highlights the often troubling implications during war time of the relationship between…
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Opinion An IDF Reservist on Life at the (Protective) Edge
This was posted this morning at Haaretz in Hebrew by Niv Shtendel, an Israeli blogger, filmmaker, author, film and television critic for Haaretz and Maariv. It describes his experience of — and impressions of — Operation Protective Edge as a middle-aged reservist called up to the front. My translation, so any mistakes are mine alone….
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