Conscription in Israel

Because the Druze and Circassian communities are less populous, their women are exempted from mandatory military service altogether.

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 previously enjoyed full exemption from the IDF through a special arrangement called Torato Umanuto, which was organized by Israel's founding prime minister David Ben-Gurion.

In June 2024, Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Haredi Jews were eligible for compulsory service, ending nearly eight decades of exemption.

[3] 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.

In 1949, after the founding of the State of Israel, the Knesset passed the Defense Service Law which gave the IDF the authority to enlist any citizen over the age of 18.

Economic constraints on the IDF have caused them to reconsider their structure and slowly shift towards a more modern military.

A shift towards a professional militia has caused the IDF to adopt more career-oriented attributes, thus becoming more selective than in prior years.

The highest medical profile draftees serve in the five infantry Brigades, Field/Combat Intelligence units, and Combat engineers.

Although military service in Israel is compulsory, exemptions can be secured on religious, physical, psychological, or legal grounds.

There is also a growing, but still very rare, phenomenon of draft dodging, mainly due to conscience or political reasons (See Refusal to serve in the Israel Defense Forces).

Members of the Religious Zionist sector often serve within a separate system called Hesder, a concept developed by Rabbi Yehuda Amital, which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces.

(f) The Minister of Defense shall not exercise his power under subsection (e) before he has given the holder of the permit an opportunity to state his case to him.

[15] The IDF had strict restraints on letting individuals go into the reserves, even if just temporarily because of their high risk of attack from neighboring states.

[citation needed] The IDF has reportedly concluded that it will, at some point in the future, have to end conscription in favor of an all-volunteer force.