Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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Life Women in Combat Shouldn’t Be So Revolutionary
This week, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the ban on American women serving in combat. The news broke quickly and widely, and immediately took me back to 1995, when civilian pilot and aeronautical engineer Alice Miller petitioned the High Court of Justice to take the Israeli Air Force pilot training exams after being rejected…
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Fast Forward Israel’s Military Chiefs Full of ‘Loathing’: Report
Israel’s government watchdog criticised outgoing Defence Minister Ehud Barak and former armed forces chief Gabi Ashkenazi on Sunday over a relationship full of “loathing and mistrust” that had hurt the military’s hallowed national image. The findings detailed mud-slinging at the very top of Israel’s defence establishment and briefly shifted local media focus away from the…
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Fast Forward Israeli Soldiers Clash with Outpost Settlers in West Bank
Some 200 settlers clashed with Israeli security forces attempting to evacuate the West Bank outpost of Oz Zion. The Jerusalem Post reported that the settlers threw stones at security forces, who eventually abandoned the evacuation attempt near the Beit El settlement on Friday, prior to the start of the Sabbath. The news site NRG reported…
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Fast Forward IDF Shoots and Wounds 5 Palestinians on Gaza Border
Israeli troops patrolling the border with the Gaza strip on Friday shot and wounded five Palestinians who were in an area on the Gaza side which Israel deems off limits, the Israeli army and Gaza medics said. Gaza medical officials said the five agricultural workers suffered light to moderate wounds and were not in a…
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Fast Forward Chief Haredi Rabbi Says No to National Service
The senior rabbi of the Lithuanian haredi Orthodox, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, has announced that yeshiva students should not agree to enlist in National Service. The rabbi’s decision, quoted Monday in the haredi daily newspaper Yated Ne’eman, comes a day after Israel’s Cabinet approved a temporary law that would allow yeshiva students to perform national…
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Fast Forward Even Without Stevie Wonder, Fundraiser Brings in $14M
The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces fundraiser that singer Stevie Wonder pulled out of raised more than $14 million. More than 1,400 people attended the event in Los Angeles to aid Israeli soldiers. Entertainment mogul Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl chaired the gala. Saban is a national board member of the Friends of…
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Fast Forward Temporary Draft Exemption for Yeshiva Students
Israel’s Cabinet approved a temporary exemption for haredi Orthodox yeshiva students from the military draft. The exemption, passed Sunday in the wake of the expiration of the Tal Law that had allowed haredi men to defer army service, provides a framework for the yeshiva students to join the National Service program in place of being…
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Fast Forward F-16 Engines Appear Stolen From IDF Base
Several engines of F-16 fighter jets appear to have been stolen from an Israel Air Force base, the Israel Defense Forces said. The IDF spokesperson unit told Army Radio on Friday that the Military Police’s serious crimes unit launched an investigation into the possibility that the engines had been stolen. The Hebrew-language news site Walla…
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