ABSTRACT
For individual Israelis, soldiering is very personal. When also viewed at the national level, military service assumes the character of an integral if not central part of Israeli education, culture and consciousness. To describe Israel as “a nation in arms” or as “a people in uniform” 1 underscores a process whereby the personal and the collective come together to establish a truly unique relationship between the individual soldier and Israel’s premier socializing agency, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
