Non-Jewish IDF. How do Bedouins and Circassians serve in the Israeli army
Today, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is considered one of the most combat-ready in the world. Such a high efficiency is accompanied by a number of factors: both ideological motivation (and how else, when the country is surrounded by enemies?), And excellent weaponry, and a good level of training, and a humane attitude toward personnel, whether they are officers or privates.
In Israel, army service is indeed an honorable duty, even for girls. Of course, the overwhelming majority of the IDF servicemen are represented by ethnic Jews and their descendants - Israelis, repatriates and repatriated children.
But they are serving in the Israel Defense Forces and people of non-Jewish nationality, and this is not about the relatives of the Jews, but about the local residents. There are even whole non-Jewish units, which, nevertheless, have covered themselves with glory on the battlefields during the numerous Arab-Israeli wars of the twentieth century. Druzes, Circassians, Bedouins - these are the three main non-Jewish nationalities of Israel, professing Islam, but serving in the Israel Defense Forces and participating in all armed conflicts with neighboring Arab countries on the side of the Jewish state.
One of the most Israel-friendly minorities in the country (as well as neighboring Lebanon) is the Druze. It is rather not a people, but an ethno-confessional community, the identity of which is based on belonging to Druzism - an offshoot of Ismailism, one of the trends in Shiite Islam. In ethnic terms, the Druze are the same Arabs as their immediate neighbors, but centuries of closed life have turned them into a unique community with their own traditions, customs, and way of life.
Druzes clearly separate themselves from the rest of the Arab world. It’s impossible to become friends, they need to be born. Like other similar groups, for example, Yezidis, the Druze is the one whose both parents are Druze, and who have not departed from their traditional religion, Druzeism. Now there are more than 1,5 million Druze in the world, most of them live in Syria (about 900 thousand people), the second largest community is Lebanon (280 thousand people). More than 118 thousand Druze live in Israel.
Back in 1928, when relations between Jews and Arabs escalated in Palestine, the Druze took the side of the former. They understood perfectly well that in a purely Arabic, Sunni state nothing good awaited them. The elders of the Druze allowed the Druze youth to enter the voluntary service in the formation of the Jewish militia - "Hagan". Therefore, when the State of Israel was created, the question of the service of the Druze in the Israeli army did not even stand. Druze volunteers served in the IDF from the very beginning of Israel’s existence, and in 1957, service in the Israeli army became compulsory for all Druze men who had reached 18 age and were eligible for military service for medical reasons.
At the end of the 1940s, at the initiative of the then Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, General Igael Yadin, the Druze battalion was formed. However, in 1950, the authorities tried to disband him due to financial difficulties, but faced opposition from the military.
The battalion fighters took part in all the wars of Israel. From the beginning of the 1960-s, the Druze began to take on officer courses. Soon came the first officers - Druze. In 1985, the motorized infantry battalion was given the name “Herev”. Since that time, he is known as the “Herev” battalion or the Druze Battalion. It is here that the main part of the Druze recruits wants to serve, although, of course, not all are fit for health service in this elite part of the Israeli army.
“Herev” is a motorized infantry battalion, but its servicemen have airborne training. Among the officers of the battalion are not only Druze, but also Jews from the number of paratrooper officers. Quite a few soldiers of the Druze battalion died during various wars. One of the commanders of the battalion, Colonel Navi Marai (1954-1996), who had already served as the commander of the Katif brigade by the time of death, was among the dead. Navi Marai, drusen by nationality, served in the Israeli army from 18 years, from 1972, graduated from officer courses. In 1987-1989 years. He commanded the battalion "Herev".
In the battalion "Herev" began the service and the first drusen, who served in the Israeli army before the general's epaulettes. Major General Yousef Mishleb, in 2001-2003 who led the IDF Logistics Command, began serving as a private paratrooper in the Herev battalion, then rose to the rank of platoon and company commander, and in 1980-1982. was the battalion commander. Then Mishleb commanded the brigades, division, military district, making a dizzying career for a non-Jew in the Israel Defense Forces.
Now you will not surprise anyone with a druz - colonel or a brigadier general of the IDF. And the Druze serve mainly in combat units - in parachute units, in military intelligence, which is explained by their long military traditions, good physical training and, as a rule, good health. Thus, the Druze officers commanded such famous units of the Israeli army as the Edom and HaGalil divisions, the Givati, Golani, Qatif brigades and so on. In 2018, the friends of the brigadier general Rasan Alian, the former commander of the Golani brigade, was appointed chief of staff of the Central Military District of the IDF.
Another isolated group of the Arab population of Israel that is in good relations with the Jews is the Bedouins. They have long been in conflict with the sedentary Arab population, but until the second half of the 1940s, they also raided Jewish settlements. The situation began to change when the Hagan began to crowd the Arabs. Impressed by the success of the Jews, the Bedouin elders changed their position. In 1946, the sheikh of the Al-Khaib Hussein Mohammed Ali Abu Yousef tribe sent 60 young men to the Hagani.
From the beginning of the 1950, the Bedouins volunteered to serve in the Israeli army, border troops, and police. The innate skills of desert rangers and guides make them indispensable during patrol and reconnaissance operations. However, sometimes the command still does not trust the Bedouins - this happens when the authorities conduct operations against the smugglers - representatives of the Bedouin tribes. After all, service is a service, and family ties for Bedouins are above all else. But as for wars and anti-terrorist operations, here the Bedouins have long recommended themselves from the best side.
В history The IDF and Israel are inscribed in gold letters in the name of Amos Yarkoni. In fact, his name was Abed Al-Majid Khader (1920-1991). Arab Bedouin, Khader in his youth joined the Arab formations, but then moved to the side of the "Hagan". In 1953, he became the first Bedouin to graduate from officer courses and receive an officer rank in the Israeli army.
In the 1959 year, Amos Yarkoni was injured and his right arm was amputated, but he continued to serve with a prosthesis, while still serving in combat units. In 1960, he commanded the Sayeret Shaked special forces, rose to lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, and was governor of the central part of the Sinai Peninsula.
The Israeli army also has a special Bedouin unit - the 585 Battalion Gdud-Siyur Midbari, also known as the Gadsar Bedui battalion. This is the infantry formation of the Southern Military District, operatively subordinated to the Gaza division. The people of the battalion is also called the Bedouin Pathfinder Battalion. Its main task is to guard the borders of Israel and Egypt in the area of the Sinai Peninsula, where battalion servicemen patrol and conduct operations against border intruders.
Currently, the Bedouin battalion is considered one of the most effective and efficient units. His soldiers wear purple berets. Service in the battalion is seen by many Bedouins as a springboard to building a successful career - no matter military or civil. By the way, in the battalion there are only three officers - Jews, the rest of the servicemen are represented exclusively by the Bedouins.
In the Middle East - in Syria, Lebanon and Israel is no exception - the Circassians call any immigrants from the North Caucasus, whether it be not only Circassians, but also Chechens, Ingushs, representatives of the Dagestan peoples. Impressive Circassian communities formed in Palestine in the 19th century, when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Muhajirs settled here from the North Caucasus - those who did not want to swear allegiance to the Russian Empire. For almost two centuries of living in the Middle East, the Circassians have not lost their identity, but made a huge contribution to the political history of a number of countries.
Despite the fact that the Circassians are Sunni Muslims, they immediately established good relations with the Jewish population of Palestine. When a large-scale emigration to Palestine took place in the 1930s, the Circassians welcomed it, helped the Jews in every way, and from the very beginning took their side in Arab-Israeli conflicts. At the end of 1940, a separate cavalry squadron was formed from the Circassians of Kfar Kama and Rihania, which carried out the tasks of the Israeli command and participated in the War of Independence.
Perhaps the Circassians were motivated by elementary sympathy for the Jews as people who had returned to their own land and had begun the struggle for the creation of their own state against the superior forces of the Arabs. In any case, since the end of 1940, Israeli Circassians have never betrayed their state. Now many Circassians are serving in the Israel Defense Forces, in the border troops and the police, are promoted to officer ranks up to the colonel.
Like the Druze, Circassians are called into the Israel Defense Forces on a common basis. But the call, unlike the Jews, applies only to young men. However, often the Circassians voluntarily enter military service.
So, one of the most famous Israeli intelligence officers was Amina al-Mufti. She was born in the distant 1935 year in the territory of modern Jordan, in a rich Circassian family, received a medical education. And then there was a long service in the Mossad, work on the territory of Lebanon, failure and five years in prison. Only in 1980, the Israeli government managed to pull al-Mufti out of the dungeons. After rehabilitation in hospitals, the woman returned to the main occupation - she became a doctor.
About a fifth of the non-Jewish IDF soldiers are Israeli Christians: Arabs, Greeks, Armenians. At one time, Israel provided serious assistance to Maronite Christians in southern Lebanon, and after the revitalization of the terrorist militants in the Middle East, Christians perceive Israel as their natural ally.
The bulk of the Christian military servicemen of the Israel Defense Forces are Arab Christians. They serve in various parts, including in combat. The priest of the Greek Orthodox Church in Nazareth, Gabriel Nadaf, created a public organization in 2012, agitating the Christian youth of Israel to serve in the IDF.
It should be noted that this is not an easy task, since many Christian Arabs in their time sympathized with the Palestinian movement. The Christian was, for example, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Georges Habbash. Therefore, with the involvement of Christians in the ranks of the Israeli army, things went even more complicated than with the involvement of Muslims: Druze, Circassian or Bedouin.
In Israel, army service is indeed an honorable duty, even for girls. Of course, the overwhelming majority of the IDF servicemen are represented by ethnic Jews and their descendants - Israelis, repatriates and repatriated children.
But they are serving in the Israel Defense Forces and people of non-Jewish nationality, and this is not about the relatives of the Jews, but about the local residents. There are even whole non-Jewish units, which, nevertheless, have covered themselves with glory on the battlefields during the numerous Arab-Israeli wars of the twentieth century. Druzes, Circassians, Bedouins - these are the three main non-Jewish nationalities of Israel, professing Islam, but serving in the Israel Defense Forces and participating in all armed conflicts with neighboring Arab countries on the side of the Jewish state.
Friends - Friends of Israel
One of the most Israel-friendly minorities in the country (as well as neighboring Lebanon) is the Druze. It is rather not a people, but an ethno-confessional community, the identity of which is based on belonging to Druzism - an offshoot of Ismailism, one of the trends in Shiite Islam. In ethnic terms, the Druze are the same Arabs as their immediate neighbors, but centuries of closed life have turned them into a unique community with their own traditions, customs, and way of life.
Druzes clearly separate themselves from the rest of the Arab world. It’s impossible to become friends, they need to be born. Like other similar groups, for example, Yezidis, the Druze is the one whose both parents are Druze, and who have not departed from their traditional religion, Druzeism. Now there are more than 1,5 million Druze in the world, most of them live in Syria (about 900 thousand people), the second largest community is Lebanon (280 thousand people). More than 118 thousand Druze live in Israel.
Back in 1928, when relations between Jews and Arabs escalated in Palestine, the Druze took the side of the former. They understood perfectly well that in a purely Arabic, Sunni state nothing good awaited them. The elders of the Druze allowed the Druze youth to enter the voluntary service in the formation of the Jewish militia - "Hagan". Therefore, when the State of Israel was created, the question of the service of the Druze in the Israeli army did not even stand. Druze volunteers served in the IDF from the very beginning of Israel’s existence, and in 1957, service in the Israeli army became compulsory for all Druze men who had reached 18 age and were eligible for military service for medical reasons.
At the end of the 1940s, at the initiative of the then Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, General Igael Yadin, the Druze battalion was formed. However, in 1950, the authorities tried to disband him due to financial difficulties, but faced opposition from the military.
The battalion fighters took part in all the wars of Israel. From the beginning of the 1960-s, the Druze began to take on officer courses. Soon came the first officers - Druze. In 1985, the motorized infantry battalion was given the name “Herev”. Since that time, he is known as the “Herev” battalion or the Druze Battalion. It is here that the main part of the Druze recruits wants to serve, although, of course, not all are fit for health service in this elite part of the Israeli army.
“Herev” is a motorized infantry battalion, but its servicemen have airborne training. Among the officers of the battalion are not only Druze, but also Jews from the number of paratrooper officers. Quite a few soldiers of the Druze battalion died during various wars. One of the commanders of the battalion, Colonel Navi Marai (1954-1996), who had already served as the commander of the Katif brigade by the time of death, was among the dead. Navi Marai, drusen by nationality, served in the Israeli army from 18 years, from 1972, graduated from officer courses. In 1987-1989 years. He commanded the battalion "Herev".
In the battalion "Herev" began the service and the first drusen, who served in the Israeli army before the general's epaulettes. Major General Yousef Mishleb, in 2001-2003 who led the IDF Logistics Command, began serving as a private paratrooper in the Herev battalion, then rose to the rank of platoon and company commander, and in 1980-1982. was the battalion commander. Then Mishleb commanded the brigades, division, military district, making a dizzying career for a non-Jew in the Israel Defense Forces. Now you will not surprise anyone with a druz - colonel or a brigadier general of the IDF. And the Druze serve mainly in combat units - in parachute units, in military intelligence, which is explained by their long military traditions, good physical training and, as a rule, good health. Thus, the Druze officers commanded such famous units of the Israeli army as the Edom and HaGalil divisions, the Givati, Golani, Qatif brigades and so on. In 2018, the friends of the brigadier general Rasan Alian, the former commander of the Golani brigade, was appointed chief of staff of the Central Military District of the IDF.
Bedouins - IDF desert rangers
Another isolated group of the Arab population of Israel that is in good relations with the Jews is the Bedouins. They have long been in conflict with the sedentary Arab population, but until the second half of the 1940s, they also raided Jewish settlements. The situation began to change when the Hagan began to crowd the Arabs. Impressed by the success of the Jews, the Bedouin elders changed their position. In 1946, the sheikh of the Al-Khaib Hussein Mohammed Ali Abu Yousef tribe sent 60 young men to the Hagani.
From the beginning of the 1950, the Bedouins volunteered to serve in the Israeli army, border troops, and police. The innate skills of desert rangers and guides make them indispensable during patrol and reconnaissance operations. However, sometimes the command still does not trust the Bedouins - this happens when the authorities conduct operations against the smugglers - representatives of the Bedouin tribes. After all, service is a service, and family ties for Bedouins are above all else. But as for wars and anti-terrorist operations, here the Bedouins have long recommended themselves from the best side.
В history The IDF and Israel are inscribed in gold letters in the name of Amos Yarkoni. In fact, his name was Abed Al-Majid Khader (1920-1991). Arab Bedouin, Khader in his youth joined the Arab formations, but then moved to the side of the "Hagan". In 1953, he became the first Bedouin to graduate from officer courses and receive an officer rank in the Israeli army.
In the 1959 year, Amos Yarkoni was injured and his right arm was amputated, but he continued to serve with a prosthesis, while still serving in combat units. In 1960, he commanded the Sayeret Shaked special forces, rose to lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, and was governor of the central part of the Sinai Peninsula.
The Israeli army also has a special Bedouin unit - the 585 Battalion Gdud-Siyur Midbari, also known as the Gadsar Bedui battalion. This is the infantry formation of the Southern Military District, operatively subordinated to the Gaza division. The people of the battalion is also called the Bedouin Pathfinder Battalion. Its main task is to guard the borders of Israel and Egypt in the area of the Sinai Peninsula, where battalion servicemen patrol and conduct operations against border intruders.
Currently, the Bedouin battalion is considered one of the most effective and efficient units. His soldiers wear purple berets. Service in the battalion is seen by many Bedouins as a springboard to building a successful career - no matter military or civil. By the way, in the battalion there are only three officers - Jews, the rest of the servicemen are represented exclusively by the Bedouins.
Caucasian Knights of the Promised Land
In the Middle East - in Syria, Lebanon and Israel is no exception - the Circassians call any immigrants from the North Caucasus, whether it be not only Circassians, but also Chechens, Ingushs, representatives of the Dagestan peoples. Impressive Circassian communities formed in Palestine in the 19th century, when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Muhajirs settled here from the North Caucasus - those who did not want to swear allegiance to the Russian Empire. For almost two centuries of living in the Middle East, the Circassians have not lost their identity, but made a huge contribution to the political history of a number of countries.
Despite the fact that the Circassians are Sunni Muslims, they immediately established good relations with the Jewish population of Palestine. When a large-scale emigration to Palestine took place in the 1930s, the Circassians welcomed it, helped the Jews in every way, and from the very beginning took their side in Arab-Israeli conflicts. At the end of 1940, a separate cavalry squadron was formed from the Circassians of Kfar Kama and Rihania, which carried out the tasks of the Israeli command and participated in the War of Independence.
Perhaps the Circassians were motivated by elementary sympathy for the Jews as people who had returned to their own land and had begun the struggle for the creation of their own state against the superior forces of the Arabs. In any case, since the end of 1940, Israeli Circassians have never betrayed their state. Now many Circassians are serving in the Israel Defense Forces, in the border troops and the police, are promoted to officer ranks up to the colonel.
Like the Druze, Circassians are called into the Israel Defense Forces on a common basis. But the call, unlike the Jews, applies only to young men. However, often the Circassians voluntarily enter military service. So, one of the most famous Israeli intelligence officers was Amina al-Mufti. She was born in the distant 1935 year in the territory of modern Jordan, in a rich Circassian family, received a medical education. And then there was a long service in the Mossad, work on the territory of Lebanon, failure and five years in prison. Only in 1980, the Israeli government managed to pull al-Mufti out of the dungeons. After rehabilitation in hospitals, the woman returned to the main occupation - she became a doctor.
Christians in the Israeli army
About a fifth of the non-Jewish IDF soldiers are Israeli Christians: Arabs, Greeks, Armenians. At one time, Israel provided serious assistance to Maronite Christians in southern Lebanon, and after the revitalization of the terrorist militants in the Middle East, Christians perceive Israel as their natural ally.
The bulk of the Christian military servicemen of the Israel Defense Forces are Arab Christians. They serve in various parts, including in combat. The priest of the Greek Orthodox Church in Nazareth, Gabriel Nadaf, created a public organization in 2012, agitating the Christian youth of Israel to serve in the IDF.
It should be noted that this is not an easy task, since many Christian Arabs in their time sympathized with the Palestinian movement. The Christian was, for example, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Georges Habbash. Therefore, with the involvement of Christians in the ranks of the Israeli army, things went even more complicated than with the involvement of Muslims: Druze, Circassian or Bedouin.
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