This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.The Israeli Ground Forces (Hebrew: זרוע היבשה, romanized: z'róa hibshá, lit.

The Uzi submachine gun was invented in Israel and used by the Ground Forces until December 2003, ending a service that began in 1954.

Hashomer was an elitist organization with narrow scope, and was mainly created to protect against criminal gangs seeking to steal property.

The Zion Mule Corps and the Jewish Legion, both part of the British Army of World War I, further bolstered the Yishuv with military experience and manpower, forming the basis for later paramilitary forces.

[5] After the 1920 Palestine riots against Jews in April 1920, the Yishuv leadership realised the need for a nationwide underground defense organization, and the Haganah was founded in June of the same year.

Ben Gurion responded by disbanding its staff in 1949, after which many senior Palmach officers retired, notably its first commander, Yitzhak Sadeh.

In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Golan Heights from the surrounding Arab states, changing the balance of power in the region as well as the role of the IDF.

An example of the latter was the successful 1976 Operation Entebbe commando raid to free hijacked airline passengers being held captive in Uganda.

The Lebanese Shia organization Hezbollah has also been a growing threat,[9] against which the IDF fought an asymmetric conflict between 1982 and 2000, as well as a full-scale war in 2006.

From the formation of the IDF until the late 1980s, sergeant major was a particularly important warrant officer rank, in line with usage in other armies.

The uniforms consist of a two-pocket shirt, combat trousers, sweater, jacket or blouse, and shoes or boots.

Paratroopers are issued a maroon beret, Golani brown, Givati purple, Nahal lime green, Kfir camouflage, Combat Engineers gray.

[16] Some corps or units have small variations in their uniforms – for instance, military policemen wear a white belt and police hat.

Paratroopers are issued a four pocket tunic (yarkit/yerkit) worn untucked with a pistol belt cinched tight around the waist over the shirt.

[17] Most IDF soldiers are issued black leather combat boots, certain units issue reddish-brown leather boots for historical reasons — the paratroopers,[17] combat medics, Nahal and Kfir Brigades, as well as some Special Forces units (Sayeret Matkal, Oketz, Duvdevan, Maglan, and the Counter-Terror School).

"[22] The Israeli military's primary principles derive from Israel's need to combat numerically superior opponents.

[24] Field rations, called manot krav, usually consist of canned tuna, sardines, beans, stuffed vine leaves, maize and fruit cocktail and bars of halva.

Packets of fruit flavored drink powder are provided along with condiments like ketchup, mustard, chocolate spread and jam.

Around 2010, the IDF announced that certain freeze dried MREs served in water-activated disposable heaters like goulash, turkey schwarma and meatballs would be introduced as field rations.

Israel has installed a variant of the Samson RCWS, a remote controlled weapons platform, which can include machine guns, grenade launchers, and anti-tank missiles on a remotely operated turret, in pillboxes along the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier to prevent Palestinian militants from entering its territory.

[28][29] Israel has developed observation balloons equipped with sophisticated cameras and surveillance systems used to thwart terror attacks from Gaza.

[30] The Ground Forces possess advanced combat engineering equipment including the IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer, IDF Puma combat engineering vehicle, Tzefa Shiryon and CARPET minefield breaching rockets, and a variety of robots and explosive devices.

[35] The IDF is planning a future tank to replace the Merkava, which will be able to fire lasers and electromagnetic pulses, run on a hybrid engine, with a crew as small as two, will be faster, and will be better-protected, with emphasis on active protection systems such as the Trophy over armor.