Day 82: Israeli Defense Force

Today my youngest son is off to "boot camp" for a week.  He is a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol (aka Jr. Air Force) and this is the equivalent of their "summer camp".  He will spend the next seven days, as if he was a new recruit in the Armed Forces.  Which essentially means, up at the crack of dawn, Physical Exercise, classes, drills, boot shining, and whatever else they have in store for him.  You know that it's going to be a busy week when the packing list tells you not to bring any books.  When my little bookworm asked why not, the answer was: "There will be no free time for reading".  Which I guess means - there will be no free time period.

So in honor of my son's departure to the military today, I thought I would blog about the role of the armed services in Israel.  First of all, in Israel, all branches of the military (army, navy, and air force) are referred to as the IDF, which stands for the Israeli Defence Force.  Nearly all Israelis, with a few exceptions, are required to serve in the Israeli military after they have reached their 18th birthday.  Arabs who live in Israel, can opt out of serving, if they so choose.  

Mandatory service applies to both Jewish men and women.  I guess when you have a country as small as Israel, the military needs every able-bodied man - even if that man is a woman.  Men serve three years in the IDF, while women serve two.  I believe that Israel is the only country in the world that drafts women into the military.  What is good about the IDF is that the women have equal rights and are allowed to serve in ANY position.  It seems that Israeli women are taking advantage of this and they make up 51% of the population of officers in the IDF. 

After completing their required years of regular service, men may be called up for one month each year for "reserve duty", or complete active duty - during a time of crisis.  Men are required to serve as reservists until they are 43 years old.  Wow.  That is a long time to be in the military.

One thing I have heard from several Israelis is that they feel that the mandatory service with the IDF makes their young people more mature.  After your typical twenty-something returns from their tour of duty, they are more prepared to settle down and go to college.  Or make up for lost time, by working hard to launch businesses.  Perhaps that is why their are so many young entrepreneurs in Israel?

I think it would be hard to live in a country where your children get whisked away for the military at 18.  I know that I felt weeping just watching my son get his first military haircut yesterday.  Being a witness to "High and Tight" was horrible.  In barber's terms it was a zero on the sides and two on top.  Essentially that means he's now bald!  The last time I saw this much of his head - he was a new born baby.

Israeli women serve in combat.