Muslim IDF officer says Arab Israelis are increasingly joining military

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Military service in Israel is compulsory for most Israeli Jews, as well as representatives from the Druze and Circassian minorities. In addition, a few hundred Bedouin-Israelis join Israel Defense Forces on a volunteer basis each year.

Until recently, military service in the IDF has been a sensitive issue for most Muslim Arab Israelis. However, IDF Lt.-Col. (res.) Hisham Abu Raya believes that it is becoming increasingly accepted among Arab Israeli citizens to serve in the Israeli military.

In 2008, Hisham Abu Raya made history as the first non-Bedouin Muslim officer in the IDF. Now, he actively advocates for greater participation of Arab-Israeli youth in military service. Raya who lives in the northern Israeli town of Sakhnin, aims to strengthen the connection between Arab citizens of Israel and the state by encouraging military service as a pathway for integration and civic engagement.

“Up until 10 years ago, you could count the number of non-Bedouin Muslim recruits in the IDF on the fingers of one hand,” Raya said in an exclusive interview with the Times of Israel.

Raya quickly realized that military service is crucial for advancing within Israeli society and feeling connected to the state.

“If you want to advance in Israeli society and feel equal, army service is your entry ticket. That’s how it was for me. The army embraced me,” Raya recalled. “All the Arabs I know who went to the army – today own a house and have a steady job. They have [moved] ahead in life,” he added.

The Israeli military estimates that “a few hundred” non-Bedouin Arab-Israelis out of a population of around two million Arab-Israelis currently serve in the IDF. While the number is still very low, Raya believes it will only increase in the future. He believes the Oct. 7 Hamas attack was a watershed moment for the nation.

“On October 7, the penny dropped among Arab-Israelis. They saw that Hamas opened fire on everyone, and did not distinguish between Jewish and Muslim citizens,” Raya explained. “And there are still Muslim hostages in the hands of Hamas. It was the same during the 2006 Second Lebanon War – nearly half of the civilian victims in Israel were Arabs. Rockets don’t distinguish between Moshe and Ali.”

Raya believes that Oct. 7 has dramatically transformed the Arab-Israeli minority and its ties with the Jewish state.

“A father from Kafr Qara called me after October 7 saying he was appalled by what he saw happening near Gaza, and said he wanted his three sons to be conscripted. He vowed he would soon take them to an induction center in a Bedouin area,” Raya said.

In late August, Israeli forces rescued Farhan al-Qadi, a Bedouin Arab-Israeli who survived for over 10 months as a hostage in Hamas captivity in Gaza. During a recent interview, al-Qadi recalled that terrorists kidnapped him when he refused to assist Hamas in capturing his Jewish friends and neighbors.

Hamas terrorists killed dozens of Arab-Israelis during the brutal Oct. 7 terror attack on southern Israeli border communities. However, Bedouin-Arab Israelis also played a crucial role in defending Israel against Hamas fighters.

In a July interview, the Muslim Bedouin IDF officer Lt.-Col. Nader Eyadat described Hamas as the enemy of Israel, both Jew and Arab.

“Hamas killed Arabs, Bedouins, and Jews – no difference,” Eyadat said.