Conscription in Israel

Conscription
1780 caricature of a press gang
Related concepts
Alternative civilian service Civil conscription Conscientious objector Conscription crisis Draft evasion Impressment Military service National service War resister
By historical country
Ottoman Empire Russian Empire Soviet Union
By modern country
Australia Azerbaijan Bermuda Brazil Canada China Congo-Kinshasa (child soldiers) Cuba Cyprus (reduction) Denmark Egypt Eritrea Finland France Germany Greece Israel Iran North Korea South Korea Latvia Lithuania Myanmar the Netherlands New Zealand Norway Mexico Monaco the Philippines Russia Serbia Singapore South Africa Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Ukraine Vietnam
By geographical area
Ireland
v t e

Since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, fixed-term military service has been compulsory in Israel. The draft laws of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) only apply to Jews (males and females), Druze (males only), and Circassians (males only). Because the Druze and Circassian communities are less populous, their women are exempted from mandatory military service altogether. Women from the Jewish community are not exempted, but serve for slightly shorter terms than their male counterparts. The IDF does not conscript non-Druze Arab citizens of Israel, though their men and women may enlist voluntarily.

Unique among the country's Jewish-majority population are the Haredi Jews, who have traditionally enjoyed full exemption from the IDF through a special government arrangement called Torato Umanuto, which was organized by Israel's founding prime minister David Ben-Gurion. This arrangement has become increasingly controversial in Israeli society, with growing discontent towards the increasingly populous Haredi community not "sharing the burden" of national duty.

As of 2022^[update], the minimum required length of military service is two years and eight months (with some roles requiring an additional four months of service) for all conscripted men, and two years (with some roles requiring an additional eight months of service) for conscripted Jewish women.^[1] Once they have completed their mandatory term of service, all discharged citizens remain eligible to be called up for reserve duty until the age of 40. Draftees may be exempted from military service on humanitarian, religious, or certain legal grounds.