Welcome to 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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Breaking News Israeli Troops Unload Iranian Weapons Ship Bound for Gaza
Israeli military forces began unloading and searching the cargo of an Iranian ship captured in the Red Sea carrying weapons bound for Gaza. The civilian vessel the Klos C, which was carrying the weapons, including medium-range missiles capable of hitting major Israeli cities, hidden amid commercial cargo, arrived in the Eilat port on Saturday afternoon,…
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Breaking News Amputee Soldier Proposes to Girlfriend on Stage of IDF Gala
An Israeli soldier who lost his arm in a Hamas terror attack proposed to his girlfriend from the stage of a Friends of the IDF event in Florida. Capt. Ziv Shilon proposed on Thursday in front of about 1,000 people at the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ Greater Miami Chapter Solidarity Gala in Hollywood….
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Breaking News Thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Arrive in Jerusalem for Draft Protest Rally
Thousands of haredi Orthodox men have gathered at the entrance to Jerusalem as part of a mass prayer rally and protest against a bill that would require yeshiva students to serve in the military. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in the protest, dubbed the “million man protest,” which was set…
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Life Haredi Wives to Sara Netanyahu: ‘Be Our Esther’
Mazal Tov! Sara Netanyahu has been crowned Queen Esther of Israel. Eighteen wives of Haredi Members of Knesset penned a letter to Mrs. Netanyahu urging her to use her powers as Queen of the Israeli empire to influence her husband, Benjamin Netanyahu, Emperor of all Israelis. According to Israel National News, the women pleaded with…
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Opinion Will Israel’s Haredi Draft Bill Empower Women?
Getty Images As the Israeli government prepares to present the Knesset with its bill to draft yeshiva students into the army, the Haredi community is seething. But even as it kicks into reactionary mode, you’ve got to wonder whether, paradoxically, this could present an opportunity for some limited advancement among Haredi women. The Haredi media…
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Breaking News Orthodox Parties in Israel Issue Ban on Yeshiva Students Enlisting in IDF
The rabbinic councils of three Orthodox parties in Israel have issued a statement prohibiting their yeshiva students from enlisting in the Israeli military. The senior rabbis of the Lithuanian haredi Orthodox Degel Hatorah and Hasidic Agudat Yisrael, and the Sephardic Orthodox Shas parties issued the statement following a joint meeting on Monday night. It was…
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Opinion Haredi Draft Refusers May Go to Jail Smiling
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish volunteer to the Israeli Army’s Nahal Haredi brigade. / Getty Images Plans to draft ultra-Orthodox men to Israel’s army are moving ahead — complete with a surprise. There has been lots of tough talk regarding the need for universal service, but there was a widespread expectation that the government would stop short…
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Opinion Locking Israel’s Ethiopian Problem Away Behind Bars
For the first time last year, Israel’s Knesset held a special session on a shocking issue: the imprisonment of large numbers of soldiers of Ethiopian origin by the army. Pnina Tamano-Shata, one of the country’s two Ethiopian members of the Knesset, reminded her fellow MKs that 40% of all Ethiopian men who have served in…
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
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Film & TV Bonhoeffer biopic tells of a pastor turned would-be Hitler assassin — but is the story true?
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News What Mike Huckabee’s ‘Kids Guide to Israel’ says about his views
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