UNPACKED – The Unique Phenomenon of the IDF’s Lone Soldier?
Imagine traveling alone, across the world, to volunteer for another country’s army. Meet the lone soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF.
Did you know that the IDF has a higher number of lone soldiers — volunteers without family in Israel — on active duty than any other army in the world?
In fact, this number has been on the rise since the first lone soldiers came to Israel in ’47 to fight in Israel’s War for Independence.
Seventy years later, what pushes young Jews to follow the original volunteers, known as the Machal unit, to volunteer across all units of the IDF each year?
And what makes these soldiers feel at home once they arrive in Israel and enlist in the IDF?
In the latest explainer from Unpacked, we explore the connection that Jews have with one another across the world, creating the phenomenon of the IDF’s lone soldier.
The lone soldier, or chayal boded in Hebrew, is unique to the IDF and to Israel. What motivates young men and women from all over the world to volunteer for military service so far from their homes? And why are some local Israeli recruits also Lone Soldiers? Explore the connection that draws young Jews from around the world to Israel every year to voluntarily join the IDF and find out how Israelis have been supporting these soldiers dating back to Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.
