Israeli Ground Forces

Israeli Ground Forces
Israeli Ground Forces
זרוע היבשה
	Emblem of the Israeli Ground Forces
	Flag of the Israeli Ground Forces
Founded	1948; 76 years ago
Service branches	Infantry Corps; Armored Corps; Artillery Corps; Engineering Corps; Intelligence Corps;
Headquarters	GOC Army Headquarters (Hebrew: מחנה בר-לב, Bar-Lev Camp)
Website	Official website
Leadership
Prime Minister	Benjamin Netanyahu
Defense Minister	Yoav Galant
Chief of the General Staff	Herzi Halevi
General Officer Commanding	Major General Tamir Yadai
Personnel
Active personnel	126,000
Reserve personnel	400,000
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Israel Military Industries; Israel Weapon Industries; Elbit Systems; Elisra; Elta; Rafael;
Foreign suppliers	Germany; United States;
Related articles
History	1948 Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949); Reprisal operations (1951–1956); Suez Crisis (1956); Six-Day War (1967); War of Attrition (1967–1970); Yom Kippur War (1973); 1978 South Lebanon conflict (1978); 1982 Lebanon War (1982–1985); South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000); First Intifada (1987–1993); Second Intifada (2000–2005); 2006 Lebanon War (2006); Gaza War (2008-2009) (2008–2009); 2012 Gaza War (2012); 2014 Gaza War (2014); Others
Ranks	Israel Defense Forces ranks

The Israeli Army, officially known as the Israeli Ground Forces (Hebrew: זרוע היבשה) are the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

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The military service is held in three different tracks:

Regular service (Hebrew: שירות חובה): mandatory military service which is held according to the Israeli security service law.
Permanent service (Hebrew: שירות קבע): military service which is part of a contractual agreement between the IDF and the soldier. The soldier agrees to do the job beyond the minimum mandatory service.
Reserve service (Hebrew: שירות מילואים): a military service in which citizens are called for active duty of at most a month every year, in accordance with the Reserve Service Law, for training and ongoing military activities and especially for the purpose of increasing the military forces in case of a war.

Sometimes the IDF would also hold pre-military courses (קורס קדם צבאי or קד"צ) for soon-to-be regular service soldiers.

Structure GOC
Israeli officers of the Paratrooper Battalion 890 in 1955 with Moshe Dayan (standing, third from the left). Ariel Sharon is standing, second from the left and commando Meir Har Zion is standing furthest left.
Soldiers of the Golani Brigade on the Golan Heights
IDF uniform colours
Nahal Brigade soldier with full combat gear
IDF female Military Police wearing skirts with their White caps and belts
The unisex Caracal Battalion, which serves in routine security missions
Israeli "Netzah Yehuda" recon company in full combat gear prepare for a night raid in the West Bank.
Merkava – Israeli main battle tank, with 4 generations
IDF's current (2017) armored fighting vehicles, clockwise: IDF Namer, IDF Caterpillar D9, M270 MLRS and Merkava Mk 4M
A profile of a Merkava Mk 4M tank, armed with an IMI 120 mm gun, a M2 Browning .50-cal, a 7.62x51 mm NATO commander's FN MAG, and equipped with the Trophy active protection system

[1]
"General Staff". Israel Defense Forces. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
[2]
International Institute for Strategic Studies (15 February 2023). The Military Balance 2023. London: Routledge. p. 331. ISBN 9781032508955.

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