Israel Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Israel Defense Forces (IDF): Ground Forces, Israel Naval Force (IN, includes commandos), Israel Air Force (IAF, includes air defense); Ministry of Public Security: Border Police (2022)

note: the Border Police is a unit within the Israel Police with its own organizational and command structure; it works both independently as well as in cooperation with or in support of the Israel Police and the IDF

Military expenditures

5% of GDP (2021 est.)

5% of GDP (2020 est.)

5.2% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $20 billion)

5.3% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $19.9 billion)

5.5% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $19.7 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 173,000 active duty personnel (130,000 Ground Forces; 9,000 Naval; 34,000 Air Force) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the majority of the IDF's inventory is comprised of weapons that are domestically-produced or imported from Europe and the US; since 2010, the US has been the leading supplier of arms to Israel; Israel has a broad defense industrial base that can develop, produce, support, and sustain a wide variety of weapons systems for both domestic use and export, particularly armored vehicles, unmanned aerial systems, air defense, and guided missiles (2022)

Military service age and obligation

18 years of age for compulsory military service; 17 years of age for voluntary military service; Jews and Druze can be conscripted; Christians, Circassians, and Muslims may volunteer; both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service obligation is 32 months for enlisted men and about 24 months for enlisted women (varies based on military occupation); officers serve 48 months; pilots commit to 9 years of service; reserve obligation to age 41-51 (men), age 24 (women) (2022)

note 1: women have served in the Israeli military since its establishment in 1948; as of 2021, women made up about 35% of IDF personnel; more than 90% of military specialties, including combat specialties, were open to women and more than 3,000 women were serving in combat units; the IDF's first mixed-gender infantry unit, the Caracal Battalion, was established in 2004

note 2: as of 2021, conscripts comprised about 70% of the IDF ground forces

note 3: the IDF recruits non-Israeli Jews and non-Jews with a minimum of one Jewish grandparent, as well as converts to Judaism; each year the IDF brings in about 800-1,000 foreign recruits from around the world

Military - note

the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has operated in the Golan between Israel and Syria since 1974 to monitor the ceasefire following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and supervise the areas of separation between the two countries; as of mid-2022, UNDOF consisted of about 1,000 personnel

since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out air strikes in Syria targeting Iranian, Iranian-backed militia and Hizballah forces, and some Syrian Government military positions; over the same period, the IDF has carried out numerous strikes against Hizballah in Lebanon in response to attacks on Israeli territory; Israel fought a month-long war in Lebanon with Hizballah in 2006 (see Appendix T for details on Hizballah)

as of 2022, the IDF also conducted frequent operations against the HAMAS and Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist groups operating out of the Gaza Strip; since seizing control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, HAMAS has claimed responsibility for numerous rocket attacks into Israel and organized protests at the border between Gaza and Israel, resulting in violent clashes, casualties, and reprisal military actions by the IDF; HAMAS and Israel fought an 11-day conflict in May of 2021, which ended in an informal truce; sporadic clashes continued into 2022, including incendiary balloon attacks from Palestinian territory and retaliatory IDF strikes; PIJ has conducted numerous attacks on Israel since the 1980s, including a barrage of mortar and rocket strikes in February 2020 (see Appendix-T for more details on HAMAS and Palestine Islamic Jihad)

Israel has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US; MNNA is a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation; while MNNA status provides military and economic privileges, it does not entail any security commitments (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Israel on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Israel 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Israel 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.