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.
Security forces in Israel include a variety of organizations, including military, law enforcement, paramilitary, governmental, and intelligence agencies.
The Israel Border Police is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav, meaning border guard; its members are colloquially known as magavnikim. "Border Guard" is often used as the official name of the Israel Border Police in English. While its main task is securing Israel's borders, it has also been deployed to assist the Israel Defense Forces, and for counter-terrorism and law enforcement operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Jerusalem.
Yamam, also known as National Counter-Terrorism Unit, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, one of four special units of the Israel Border Police. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids against terrorist targets in civilian areas. Besides military and counter-terrorism duties, it also performs tactical unit duties and undercover police work.
The IDF Caterpillar D9 —nicknamed Doobi — is a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Israeli armored CAT D9 was heavily modified by the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli Military Industries and Israel Aerospace Industries to increase the survivability of the bulldozer in hostile environments and enable it to withstand heavy attacks, thus making it suitable for military combat engineering use. The IDF Caterpillar D9 is operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Combat Engineering Corps for combat engineering and counter-terrorism operations.
The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps is the combat engineering forces of the Israel Defense Forces.
The Israeli Military Intelligence, often abbreviated to Aman, is the central, overarching military intelligence body of the Israel Defense Forces. Aman was created in 1950, when the Intelligence Department was spun off from the IDF's General Staff. The Intelligence Department was composed largely of former members of the Haganah Intelligence Service. Aman is an independent service, and not part of the ground forces, Navy or the Air Force.
The Military Police Corps of the Israel Defense Forces (Hebrew: חֵיל הַמִּשְׁטָרָה הַצְּבָאִית, Chayal HaMishtara HaTzva'it, commonly called "Mem Tzadik" or "Mem Tzadi", is the Israeli military police and provost. The military police serves the Manpower Directorate during peacetime, and the Technological and Logistics Directorate during war.
The military ranks of Israel are the military insignia used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Because the IDF is an integrated force, ranks are the same in all services The ranks are derived from those in the paramilitary Haganah, which operated during the Mandate period in order to protect the Yishuv.
This page details the uniforms and insignia of the Israel Defense Forces, excluding rank insignia. For ranks, see Israel Defense Forces ranks and insignia.
The Israeli Intelligence Community is made up of Aman, Mossad and Shabak.
The GOC Army Headquarters, is a multi-corps command headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The current size of the Israeli Ground Forces is estimated at 126,000 active soldiers and 400,000 soldiers in reserve.
The Israeli Combat Intelligence Collection Corps is the newest of the IDF GOC Army Headquarters' five corps, created in April 2000 and tasked with collecting combat intelligence. It is responsible for intelligence units from the battalion level and up to the entire force. Due to the need for collecting combat intelligence and in maintaining observation networks, it is in the midst of expansion.
Unit 8200 is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit of the Israel Defense Forces responsible for clandestine operation, collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption, counterintelligence, cyberwarfare, military intelligence, and surveillance. Military publications include references to Unit 8200 as the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps, and it is sometimes referred to as Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU). It is subordinate to Aman, the military intelligence directorate.
Talpiot program is an elite Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) training program for recruits who have demonstrated outstanding academic ability in the sciences and leadership potential. Graduates pursue double higher education while they serve in the army, and they use their expertise to further IDF research and development in technological leadership positions. The program was inaugurated in 1979.
The counter-terrorism page primarily deals with special police or military organizations that carry out arrest or direct combat with terrorists. This page deals with the other aspects of counter-terrorism:
Namer, means "leopard" and also a syllabic abbreviation of "Nagmash" (APC) and "Merkava", is an Israeli armoured personnel carrier based on a Merkava Mark IV tank chassis. Namer was developed by and is being assembled by the Israeli Ordnance Corps. It has entered service in limited numbers with the Israel Defense Forces since the end of 2008. Due to budgetary constraints, the introduction of the Namer into the IDF has been slow, leaving the ground forces dependent on the M113 until 2027.
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.
The Israeli Ground Forces are the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the General Officer Commanding with the rank of Major General, the Mazi, subordinate to the Chief of General Staff.
Israeli Ground Forces 
Israeli Air Force 
Israeli Navy 
Computer Service Directorate 
Technological and Logistics Directorate 
Military Intelligence Directorate 
