Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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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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Fast Forward 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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Fast Forward Israel Military Struggles With New Issue: Quiet
Watching old Arab enemies reel with sectarian insurgencies and international diplomacy capping the Iranian nuclear drive, Israel’s military is confounded by a new challenge: quiet. The relative tranquility, for Israel at least, poses its own dilemma for commanders tasked with preparing for an array of potentially unpredictable future adversaries while trying to stave off steep…
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Opinion Israeli Teacher May Lose Job Over ‘Leftist’ Views
A schoolgirl listens to language class on November 4, 2002 in Jerusalem. / Getty Images An Israeli high school teacher faces dismissal after a student complained that he expressed radical “leftist” views in the classroom. In a letter to Education Minister Shay Piron, 12th-grade student Sapir Sabah accused Adam Verete — who teaches philosophy in…
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Opinion Is Israel Safe Without Troops on Jordan River?
While Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies insist that Israel must maintain military control over the Jordan River in order to make sure that hostile forces don’t cross over and turn a Palestinian state into a forward base for attacks on Israel, Israel’s main security professionals continue to argue that Israel can accept…
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