Tensions between military service and Jewish orthodoxy in israel: Implications imagined and real

Of the se veralrecent trans format ionsin the sociological profile of t he Israel Defense Forces (IDF), arguably the most conspicuous is the growth in the number of male troops in field formations who adhere to Jewish Orthodox practice and now wear a kippah serugah (knitted skullcap). Signs of that development, although evident for some time, have of late become especially obtrusive. Analysis of the distribution of IDF fatalities during the second Intifada indicates that the overall number of kippot serugot in infantry units may be roughly twice their proportion in Israel's Jewish male population as a whole. Informal surveys of the cadre of petty officers (second lieutenant through captain) suggest that in those ranksthedi screpa ncies inrepre sentat ion may beeven higher. Gradu ates of the religious state educational network, it seems, have altogether appropriated the mantle of extraordinary commitment to combat military service that once belonged to products of the secular kibbutz system.¹.