Mahal IDF Volunteers
Guide & Assistant

Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org is the leading guide for all would-be overseas enlistees (non-Israelis and Israelis) prior to joining the IDF. It is not an official website of the State of Israel but a voluntary initiative aiming to assist you - from retrieving reliable information to pre-checking your qualification and being your one-stop-assistant until your enlistment. All services are free and donations are not accepted.

Launched in 2001 as Mahal2000.com, the website got the "Jewish Agency Top Site 2005" award. The usage statistics for 2007 show 135,000 visits and 3,000,000 hits. Google ranks on Sep 15, 2008:
how to join the Israeli army - 1st and 2nd,
volunteer Israeli army – 1st and 2nd,
volunteer Israeli military - 1st and 2nd,
mahal idf - 1st and 2nd,
enlist IDF - 1st and 2nd,
volunteer IDF - 1st and 2nd,
volunteer Israel Defense Forces - 1st and 2nd,
serve Israeli army - 1st and 2nd,
volunteer Israel - 9th.

The following programs enable young Jews from all over the world to volunteer for the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). The programs aim to contribute to Israel's defense and to provide experienced and enthusiastic young leaders for Jewish communities.

Mahal and the other IDF programs on this website are actually only administrative gates through which non-Israelis and overseas Israelis enlist. The minimum service time is usually shorter than the regular IDF paths. Otherwise there are no major differences:

IDF programs for non-Israelis:

• The Mahal program is for men younger than 24 and women younger than 21. Eligible are non-Israeli Jews, descendants of a Jewish grandparent and the spouses of the aforementioned. The program consists of 14 - 18 months of IDF service (depending on command of Hebrew).
  
• The Mahal Nahal Haredi program is for non-Israeli religious (haredi) Jewish men younger than 24. The program consists of 14 - 18 months of service (depending on command of Hebrew) in a separate IDF Nahal Haredi Infantry combat unit.
  
• The Mahal Hesder program is for non-Israeli religious (dati) Jewish men younger than 24. The program consists of 6 1/2 months of studies in a Yeshivat Hesder (IDF Rabbinical College) followed by at least 14 months of IDF service, in total 20 1/2 months.
  
• Long Mahal program for non-Israelis with a close link to Israel,
  service time as Israelis - depending on personal factors

IDF programs for overseas Israelis and their children:

• Short and regular paths for Israeli citizens residing overseas, children of overseas Israelis etc. | Details - click here and here

Over one thousand young people from more than 40 countries have already joined the IDF through its exciting programs for overseas volunteers.

• Free Hebrew studies program - click here
• Before contacting Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org, please study Who Can Volunteer?, Your Service in the IDF, Volunteering Step-by-Step, Register/Sign up Online, FAQ and the external links like the informations for Chayalim Bodedim (Lone Soldiers)
• If the IDF enlistment date is after your 24th birthday (man) | 21st (woman) - click here
• If you are not Jewish | none of your parents is Jewish | none of your grandparents is Jewish | you are not the spouse of the grandchild of a Jew - click here

What's New?

• Happy New Year 5769! Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org wishes Shana Tova uMetuka, Shnat Shalom u Bitachon - for the IDF, MoD and Security Services, Mahalniks on active duty, Mahal veterans, Am Israel and, last but not least, for Israel's allies and friends of the Jewish people worldwide! - Sep 29, 2008
• Serving in the Kfir Brigade, far from home (Jerusalem Post article, Sep 22, 2008)
• To all volunteers who registered before 2008: please reregister here. - Aug 21, 2008
• Ministry of Defense/IDF rule lifting the maximum age for physicians to 35 incl. - July 17, 2008
• Ministry of Defense/IDF rule allowing the enlistment of those non-Israelis through the IDF Mahal programs (i.e. without acquiring Israeli citizenship) who do not qualify for regular Mahal due to their close link to Israel - details here. - July 17, 2008
• The Ministry of Defense/IDF rules applicable to overseas Israelis and their children are finally out - details here.
  We mailed today the details to all registrees. If you registered and did not receive our email of today, please inform us by mail so we can send you that information. If you are an overseas Israeli or the child of an overseas Israeli and did not register yet, please register here. - July, 13, 2008
• Ministry of Defense/IDF rule raises the maximum age for volunteers: 24th birthday (man) | 21st (woman) at the time of the IDF enlistment date.
  
  Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org continues lobbying for improved IDF rules aiming to increase the numbers of eligible overseas volunteers. The rules improved considerably and continue moving in the right direction. We will publish all changes here, as soon as there will be changes. Please check from time to time Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org's homepage for updates - Apr 27, 2008
• Following the improved infrastructure of the Ministry of Defense, we redesigned the website and expanded our services aiming to assist all would-be overseas volunteers.
  
  Mahal2000.com cooperated in the last years closely with the Mahal2000 association. Since 2008, however, the Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org website (alias Mahal2000.com) operates independently from any association and is thus available for all organizations and individuals which assist IDF overseas enlistees, and all those overseas residents who might want to consider service in any of the the IDF overseas programs.
  
  All Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org personnel are volunteers and all services are free of charge. Donations are not accepted. - Feb 10/Mar 11/Sep 16, 2008
• IDF health certificate - Nov 28, 2007
• Path for overseas residents with Israeli citizenship who were not residents of Israel between their 11th and 18th birthday. This path is also an option for volunteers who - unlike Israelis - are not liable for IDF service but fail to qualify for the Mahal programs.
• Ministry of Defense rule limiting the enlistment age of volunteers, effective immediately: men 23rd birthday | women 21st. No exception is possible. Mahal is lobbying for the cancellation of this rule. Please check from time to time our website for updates. - Oct 30, 2007
• Ministry of Defense rule disqualifying volunteers who stayed in Israel over 12-18 months before enlistment. Mahal is lobbying for the cancellation of this rule. Please check from time to time our website for updates - Oct 30, 2007.
• The eligibility for the IDF Mahal program includes now non-Israeli Jews, descendants of a Jewish grandparent and the spouses of the aforementioned. - Oct 30, 2007
• Volunteers must arrive in Israel not later than 2 1/2 months before the enlistment date in order to register in person with the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and IDF (alternative schedule for Hebrew speakers only - click here) - Oct 29, 2007
• Enlistment dates for 2008 - Oct 29, 2007
• The IDF is beginning to reach out to motivated new olim and Diaspora Jews - JP, Aug 16, 2007
• The IDF is planning to open one of its most secret and prestigious hi-tech courses -Talpiot- to overseas Jews - JP, Aug 6, 2007
• IDF revamping 'Shlav Bet' to offer new olim better options (does not apply to non-Israelis) - JP, Aug 3, 2007
• IDF appeals to Israeli expatriates to come to Israel to perform reserve duty in the West Bank - JP, Jul 24, 2007
• Free army ulpan | What happens if my command of Hebrew is not reasonable, at the time of the enlistment? - Jul 3, 2007

1948 vets meet present-day volunteers
May 12, 2005. Veteran foreign volunteers who fought in the War of Independence held a stirring meeting Wednesday with present-day volunteers in the IDF.

Lone Soldiers
August 22, 2004. It's dangerous, difficult and sometimes brutal. So why would North American kids want to serve in the IDF? In this article, some of them explain why they're here.


Induction
RAMAT GAN. Mahal volunteers experienced their first day in the IDF at the BAKUM induction base today, where they received their IDF uniforms and equipment.