On Sunday, the IDF will begin processing recruits for enlistment in August. The August enlistment is the largest for field units.
This year’s recruits were born in 1994.
Of those eligible for combat, 72.3% requested a combat unit, showing that a trend of relatively high combat motivation remains consistent. Nearly 50% asked to serve in ground forces, a 2.5% increase compared to August of last year.
Each recruit named his or her first three choices for service, and 98% were given one of those three positions. Sixty-four per cent were placed in combat positions, and the rest were given technical, administrative, and other support roles.
More recruits were directed to search and rescue teams than in past rounds of recruitment, in order to bolster units tasked with protecting civilians in case of attack.
IDF Manpower head Major-General Orna Barbivai said, “The high motivation [among recruits] helps us to meet a variety of goals, the number of which is increasing in face of the increasing number of threats the IDF faces. The range of populations among the recruits reflects all the sectors of Israeli society, and truly gives expression to the model of the ‘people’s army.’”