Israel Defence Force

From RationalWiki
(Redirected from Israel Defense Force)
Jump to: navigation, search
An armored Caterpillar D9R bulldozer of the Israeli Defense Forces, with add-on slat armor against ATGMs, RPGs, and young children throwing pebbles.

The Israel Defence Forces ( צבא הגנה לישראל), usually referred to as the IDF, was founded on May 26, 1948 following the establishment of the state of Israel. Its objective is "to protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten daily life".

The IDF is made up primarily of youths between the ages of 18 and 25, as conscription is mandatory following graduation from high school for both men and women, unless physically unfit for service. A major exception to this are youths from very religious families, who are allowed to continue their studies in a Yeshiva so that they can pray for the safety of Israel, and Arab youths, since forcing them to fight other Arabs would be a recipe for disaster. Also exempt from conscription are women who are married, pregnant or mothers, or are from religious families who don't think women should be fighting.

They have really cool up-armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, which they use to demolish buildings that are harboring terrorists, as well as the homes of families of suicide bombers, those Palestinians who happen to live in the same building as or adjacent to such targets, or for "military/security needs" (e.g. living in Gaza).[1]

[edit] Human Rights abuses

The IDF have repeatedly been criticized by international groups, such as Amnesty International[2], for regularly ignoring basic human rights. Below, for example, is a small selection of recent reports from Human Rights Watch outlining questionable actions on the part of the IDF. The IDF's response to these concerns is largely along the lines of "everyone around us wants us dead, so fuck off."

[edit] Footnotes

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support