# Are the Israeli Fighting Forces all Jewish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2009, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927 "2009-01-05T09:26:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/21 "2009-01-06T00:02:33Z")
[Here’s a story](http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/04/11/first_muslim_woman_joins_israeli_air_force/7528/)about an Arab-Israeli Muslim woman who accidentally ended up in an Israeli unit, whose commander was so impressed with her that he kept her. The article also goes into a little detail about Arabs in the Israeli military, etc. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/22 "2009-01-06T00:09:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Bear in mind that the Druze communit in Israel differs in this respect from their cousins in Lebanon and Syria. In what ways? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/23 "2009-01-06T00:29:19Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > In what ways? Syrian and Lebanese Druze self identify as Arab, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/24 "2009-01-06T00:44:22Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Aren’t there some American ex-pats that serve in the IDF too? I was watching a news report from the Holy Land yesterday and the IDF spokesperson was as far as I could tell British, born and bred. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/25 "2009-01-06T02:17:26Z")
ETA: Deleted, not of great import. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/26 "2009-01-06T07:18:59Z")
The Druze were originally draft exempt, until their religious leaders asked them to be subject to the draft. This has been mixed in the community even till today. Originally the Druze were in seperate units this led to unintended discrimination as the Druze couldn’t advance through the ranks 'cause they had to stay in a segregated unit. Israel technically drafts ALL Israeli citizen but the Defense Minister then grants exemptions to groups of people, such as Arab citizens. The only Israeli Arabs that volunteer in any number are the Bedouins who patrol their own areas. Very few Muslims or Christians volunteer but they do in small numbers. And they are usually put into their own communities ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/27 "2009-01-06T09:19:40Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Converting to Islam or Christianity isn’t treason under Israeli law. Should have chosen a better word. Why would a convert get discharged? [QUOTE=samclem] AK84. You’ve just been corrected three times in two posts. I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but it would be helpful to let the posters who have firsthand experience here answer the questions. samclem GQ moderator [/QUOTE] With respect while I understand your responsibilities as a moderator , what you say above is patently untrue. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/28 "2009-01-06T13:19:21Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I wonder how service conditions and pay are in the regular IDF, we have had people from despised minorities serving in a countrys army before, Irish in the British Army comes to mind. IIRC that was one of your first threads in here. Nowhere was it suggested that the British Army looked on its Irish recruits as any sort of a “despised minority”, nor that the UK at large looked on anyone Irish in that way. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927/29 "2009-01-06T13:39:56Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I was watching a news report from the Holy Land yesterday and the IDF spokesperson was as far as I could tell British, born and bred. I once had a nice chat with a guy in a cafe in Jerusalem. He was obviously a native speaker of English, but his IDF uniform was completely throwing me and making it absolutely unable to identify his accent. Finally I asked him where he was from. The answer: Edinburgh. OTOH, I’ve met plenty of born and bred Israelis whose parents immigrated from English-speaking countries and don’t have any discernible Hebrew accent because their families spoke English at home, or have only the slightest accent. One American-Israeli friend of mine once lamented to me that everyone thinks she’s a foreigner - she has a teensy Hebrew accent when speaking English, and a teensy English accent when speaking Hebrew. Anyway, immigrants (not expats, per se) do serve. People who immigrate at ages older than draft age have to volunteer, but many do. The army is a HUGE part of Israeli society and army service is integral to idea of what it means to be an Israeli. Immigrants like to serve because they want to show their dedication to their new country and helps them integrate. Where Americans might ask new acquaintances what they do and where they went to college, Israelis will often inquire about army service. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-israeli-fighting-forces-all-jewish/479927.md?page=1)