Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Israel Defense Forces, the combined military forces of Israel.
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Life Impact on Women of Israel’s Violence Problem
Discussion of the exclusion of women from public spaces in Israel — its manifestations, its dangers and its possible remedies — has increased in recent weeks, with a different variation on the theme catching the media spotlight every few days. Recently there has been increased focus on the issue of violence against women. First, Culture…
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The Schmooze Viral Video Leaked Sensitive IDF Info
Oops! A six-minute YouTube video showing classified IDF maps and command-and-control systems went viral over several months before authorities caught on and removed it. But it was too late to undo possible damage that might have been done, as many viewers had already downloaded the video to their personal hard drives. Ynet has posted the…
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The Schmooze Streisand To Sing for the IDF
Barbra Streisand is set to headline a star-studded gala for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces in Los Angeles on December 8. Organizers of the fundraiser are considering this a coup, given that the singer rarely agrees to sing at such events and has yet to accept invitations to hold a concert in Israel….
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Opinion Connect the Dots: IDF vs. Rabbis, Silencing the 99%
Sometimes the biggest news isn’t found in a hot new scoop, but in a recapitulation of a string of things you knew about but hadn’t put together already—or in little details that flesh out a trend you’d heard about, showing you how fast it’s building up. An example of the first: Former labor secretary Robert…
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Life Rabbi: Choose Death Over Hearing Women Sing
Listen to a woman soldier sing in a military ceremony or face a firing squad? Tough decision, eh? One Orthodox rabbi has declared that male religious soldiers who are true to their faith should choose the latter. In a radio interview quoted in Ha’aretz, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Elon…
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Life Female Soldiers Forced Away From Torah Dancing
Simchat Torah wasn’t much of a celebration this year for a group of angry female Israeli soldiers who were furious over being segregated far from their male counterparts, and completely out of their sight line when it came time for the traditional round of dancing with the Torah that ends the holiday, known as Hakafot…
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Life Gilad Shalit Inspires My Daughter To Join the IDF
My daughter was the first person to tell me that an agreement had been reached for Gilad Shalit’s release. Her voice was joyous in a “shouting-from-the-rooftop” kind of way. Shalit’s captivity has been very much on my teenage daughter’s mind since she saw the halting video of Gilad as a prisoner of war two years…
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Opinion New Year’s Greetings From the IDF Chief of Staff
Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, offers a 2-1/2 minute video new year’s greeting to “Jewish people in Israel and around the world.” Here’s the Hebrew version, in which he says mostly the same things but sounds a lot better, if you can follow it. He’s got a nice…
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