Can a Jewish-American join the Israeli army?
There are three ways to serve with IDF as a foreigner: The Mahal2000 program is for non-Israeli Jewish men younger than 23 and women younger than 20. The program consists of 14 months of IDF service, including a lengthy training for those in combat units or 1 month of non-combat training. (Volunteers may also be required to spend extra time learning Hebrew before enlisting if necessary.) There are also two subcategories of Mahal, both geared specifically for religious men: Mahal Nahal Hareidi, in which units are comprised solely of religious men, and Mahal Hesder, which combines yeshiva study with IDF service for a total of 21 months. Sar-El is a program for 16-year-old non-Israeli citizens. It usually consists of three weeks unarmed auxiliary service with (not in) the IDF. Garin Tzabar accepts all Jews, although a basic knowledge of the Hebrew language is not mandatory, it is helpful. Of all the programs listed, only Garin Tzabar offers a full service in the IDF. The program is set up
