Do Arab Israelis Really Serve in the IDF?

Takeaways

• Thousands of Arab citizens now serve in the IDF.
• Druze communities have served since 1956.
• Christian Arab enlistment has tripled in under a decade.
• Bedouin trackers patrol Israel’s borders.
• Many say service made them feel more connected to the state.

Israel’s army has never been only Jewish. Walk through any base today and you’ll find Druze colonels, Bedouin trackers, Christian recruits, and Muslim officers standing in the same formation. Most people assume the IDF is a Jewish institution defending a Jewish state. The reality is more interesting.

Thousands of Arab citizens choose to wear the uniform, some by tradition, some by personal conviction, and their numbers have only grown since October 7. Here’s who they are and why they serve. 

The Druze Covenant

Druze are a small, distinct religious community in northern Israel, bound to the state since 1956 by a mutual pledge to serve and protect each other. About 80 percent of Druze men enlist, most in combat units. 

Lt. Col. Salman Habaka was one of them. On October 7, he heroically drove down from his home in the north, took command of a tank, and pushed toward Kibbutz Be’eri, where a tenth of the residents had just been killed. His quick thinking actions on October 7th changed the entire battle in Be’eri. His actions saved hundreds of people. 

Sadly, he was killed weeks later, on November 1, fighting in Gaza, the most senior officer lost in the offensive up to that point. Israel mourned him as one of its own, a reminder of how tightly the Druze are woven into the country’s defense.

Christian Arabs Step Forward

In 2013, about 100 Christian Arabs enlisted, double the rate of the three years before. The number tripled within a year. By 2015, roughly 300 were serving, and the IDF began mailing draft papers directly to Christian homes instead of requiring families to apply first. One veteran, Samer Barham, put it simply: he fights alongside his Jewish and Muslim brothers in Israel.

Watching the Border

Bedouin citizens aren’t required to serve, but more than 600 enlisted in a single recent year. Many become trackers, reading footprints and tire marks along the border with skills passed down through generations. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz once said there’s no replacing that kind of field knowledge. It can’t be taught in a classroom.

Why They Serve

In 2018, 436 Muslim and Arab citizens volunteered for the IDF. A 2020 study found a sharp rise in Arab citizens identifying primarily as Israeli rather than Palestinian. That year, the number topped 600. The totals are still small next to Israel’s Arab population of roughly two million. But something changed after October 7.

Roughly 70 percent of Arab citizens reported feeling connected to the state, up from 48 percent before.

Lt. Col. (res.) Hisham Abu Raya became the first non-Bedouin Muslim officer in the IDF back in 2008. He’s spent years since then trying to get more young Arab citizens to enlist, often facing threats and vandalism for it. After October 7, he started getting calls he’d never gotten before. One father from Kafr Qara phoned him, shaken by what he’d seen near Gaza, and said he wanted all three of his sons to join up.

“On October 7, the penny dropped among Arab Israelis,” Abu Raya said. “They saw that Hamas opened fire on everyone, and did not distinguish between Jewish and Muslim citizens.”

Druze citizens have served under mandatory conscription for decades. Bedouin communities enlist voluntarily, a few hundred a year. Christian and non-Bedouin Muslim Arabs remain the smallest group in uniform, often in the dozens or low hundreds annually. 

Abu Raya believes the numbers will keep climbing. Although there is no reliable source for exactly how many Arab Israelis are in the IDF in 2026, the number is estimated to be over 4,000.

A Land Defended by Many

The land of Israel has always drawn a mix of peoples within its borders. Today that mix shows up in uniform: Druze colonels, Christian recruits, Bedouin trackers, and Muslim officers serving side by side. It’s a picture of a nation built on more than one tribe, standing together to protect the same ground.

Want to keep reading? Learn here about how Israel recruited Jews of Yemenite descent to strengthen intelligence against the Houthis. Explore more on faith, values, and the Land of Israel at Sinai Project.