Who are the Bedouin Arabs in the Israeli army?

How did the Bedouins come to join the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)?

During the last several decades of Ottoman rule, the Bedouin began to settle into a largely sedentary life. Before the formation of Israel, groups of Bedouin were employed by early Jewish settlers to guard clusters of their communities in Palestine. During the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49, many Bedouin provided valuable intelligence to the Jewish militias and the newly formed IDF, and some of them also fought against the Arab armies alongside the Jews.

In the 1950s, Israel recognised a large number of Bedouin as its citizens, and subsequently helped build settlements for them in the Negev. Many Bedouin continued to serve in the IDF, primarily in scouting or tracking units. In 1970, a Bedouin scouting unit was established in the IDF’s Southern Command, and similar units have since been established in other areas. In 1986, a desert-scouting unit was formed, and stationed near the Gaza Strip.

In 2003, the IDF created several specialised search and rescue units of mainly Bedouin to serve in the border areas.

In 1993, Israel inaugurated a memorial to Bedouin warriors on a hilltop in Galilee, bearing the names of 154 Bedouin soldiers who lost their lives in the service of the country. The Garden of the Broken Heart is dedicated to Bedouin soldiers whose burial places remain unknown.

Is it compulsory for the Bedouin to train with the IDF?

No. Army training is compulsory only for the Jewish population of Israel. However, many Bedouin youth also volunteer. Many of the IDF’s Bedouin soldiers come from families with a tradition of joining the defence forces.

In 2021, a record number of around 600 Bedouins voluntarily enlisted in the Israeli military. In a post from 2014, the IDF claimed on its Facebook page that “about 450 Bedouin men volunteer to serve in the IDF each year”.

To what extent are the Bedouin integrated in Israeli society?

Many of the Bedouin serving in desert reconnaissance units hail from the north of Israel. In communities like Shibli in the north, Bedouin have coexisted with Jewish and Arab communities since the 1950s.

One individual who underwent army conscription and now works with the Israeli civil services, told this reporter in an interview last year that training with the Israeli army helped him appreciate aspects of Jewish culture, even though he did struggle with the Hebrew language initially.

The Bedouin population in Israel currently numbers 210,000 individuals residing in various regions of the state, with a significant presence in the Negev desert in the South.

In 2020, the Israeli foreign ministry appointed Ishmael Khaldi as Israel’s first Bedouin ambassador. The first Bedouin high-tech company in Israel, Sadel Technologies, was co-founded by Ibrahim Sana, a Bedouin, and his two partners.

In November 2022, the Israeli government launched Operation Negev Shield, one of the goals of which is to help Bedouin communities integrate into society through educational programmes aimed at steering young men away from criminal activity. Each week, IDF officers visit schools in various Bedouin communities to educate children.

(The reporter visited Israel at the invitation of the Israeli government in November 2022)