Rehavam Ze'evi was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating for cleansing of the complete Palestinian population through population transfer.
The Israel Defense Forces, alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym Tzahal (צה״ל), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and the Israeli Navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security apparatus. The IDF is headed by the Chief of the General Staff, who is subordinate to the Israeli Defense Minister.
Special forces units in the Israel Defense Forces encompass a broad definition of specialist units. Such units are usually a regiment or a battalion in strength.
The Arab citizens of Israel are the country's largest ethnic minority. They are colloquially referred to in Arabic as either 48-Arabs or 48-Palestinians, denoting the fact that they have remained in Israeli territory since the Green Line was agreed upon between Israel and the Arab countries as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. According to several sources, the majority of Arabs in Israel now prefer to be identified as Palestinian citizens of Israel. International media outlets often use the term "Arab-Israeli" or "Israeli-Arab" to distinguish Israel's Arab citizens from the Palestinian Arabs residing in the Israeli-occupied territories. They are formerly, or are descended from, those Arabs who belonged to the British Mandate for Palestine through Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925. Speakers of both Arabic and Hebrew, they self-identify in a wide range of intersectional civic, national, and religious identities.
The Sword Battalion, previously Unit 300 and also known as the IDF Minorities Unit, was an Arab-dominated military unit of the Israel Defense Forces. It predominantly enlisted Druze, who made up the majority in the unit until it was disbanded in 2015, though a sizable number of recruits were Bedouin and non-Arab Circassians. Men from the Druze and Circassian communities are subject to Israeli conscription laws, while Bedouin and other Arabs may voluntarily enlist for military service.
The 33rd "Caracal" Battalion is an infantry combat battalion of the Israel Defense Forces, one of the three fully combat units in the Israeli military's Paran Brigade that are composed of both male and female soldiers. It is named after the caracal, a small cat whose sexes appear the same. As of 2009, approximately 70% of the battalion was female.
The Israeli–Lebanese conflict, or the South Lebanon conflict, is a series of military clashes involving Israel, Lebanon and Syria, the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as various militias and militants acting from within Lebanon. The conflict peaked in the 1980s, during the Lebanese Civil War, and has abated since.
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, Druze, and Circassians. 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.
Israeli Druze or Druze Israelis are an ethnoreligious minority among the Arab citizens of Israel.
Israel is one of only a few countries where military service is compulsory for all able-bodied female citizens. Under Israeli conscription laws, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may draft recruits from three communities: the Jews, the Druze, and the Circassians. As the latter two communities are less populous, their women are not required to serve. Women from the Jewish majority are not exempted from the conscription laws, but serve for slightly shorter terms than male conscripts. All women who are exempted from the conscription laws may still enlist voluntarily. Jewish women who are called up for military service may apply for an exemption on humanitarian, religious, or certain legal grounds. Those who claim such an exemption will typically be redirected to Sherut Leumi, the alternative means of national service.
Elinor Joseph is an Israeli-Arab soldier who has served with the Caracal Battalion of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since 2010. She became the first Arab woman ever to serve in a combat role in the Israeli military.
Al Jazeera Arabic is a flagship news channel that primarily caters to an Arabic-speaking audience. Al Jazeera English, launched in 2006, is the English-language counterpart to Al Jazeera Arabic. According to Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera Arabic is editorially independent from Al Jazeera English, although it shares the same editorial vision. It is based in Doha and operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network.
i24NEWS is an international 24-hour news television channel located in Jaffa Port, Tel Aviv, Israel. It broadcasts in French, English, and Arabic. The English channel offers a weekly broadcast in Spanish, as well. The channel's owner is Patrick Drahi, and the CEO is Frank Melloul.
Ihud Bnei HaBrit is an Israeli political party that participated in the April 2019 Israeli legislative election. It is mostly an Arab Christian party, with some Jewish and Muslim support.
Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the Syrian Civil War, straining the relations between the countries. The incidents are considered a spillover of the Quneitra Governorate clashes since 2012 and later incidents between Syrian Army and the rebels, ongoing on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan and the Golan Neutral Zone and the Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Through the incidents, which began in late 2012, as of mid-2014, one Israeli civilian was killed and at least 4 soldiers wounded; on the Syrian-controlled side, it is estimated that at least ten soldiers were killed, as well as two unidentified militants, who were identified near Ein Zivan on Golan Heights.
Gabriel Naddaf is an Israeli Greek Orthodox priest. He serves as a judge in Israel's religious court system and as a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He is one of the founders of the Forum for recruiting Christians in the Israel Defense Forces.
Al Jazeera Arabic is a Qatari state-owned Arabic-language news television network. It is based in Doha and operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which also operates Al Jazeera English. It is the largest news network in the Middle East and North Africa region. It was founded in 1996 by the then Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Oren Rosenfeld is an Multi-Emmy Award winning Israeli documentary filmmaker, photojournalist, and film producer.
The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion (DRB) (also known as Unit 585 or the Bedouin Battalion) is a unit of the Israel Defense Forces. It is an ethnic minority unit consisting of volunteers from the Bedouin, Christian, Muslim, Druze and Circassian ethnoreligious groups, while the majority of the IDF and the Israeli population are Jews. The DRB was founded in the late 1980s and since then has largely been deployed on the border with the Gaza Strip on security duties.
