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Source: http://www.fathomjournal.org/conversation/the-idf-2-0/
IDF Service Still a Gateway into Society
(Fathom Journal-BICOM) Alan Johnson interviews Amos Harel - Amos Harel, a defense analyst for Ha'aretz, noted the continuing important role of the Israel Defense Forces in Israeli society. "The IDF is still in many ways the rite of passage in Israeli society. Ethiopian Jews, for example, go to combat units much more than any other part of society....Once they are paratroopers they expect to be treated differently, and to a certain extent they are." "If you put together two average Israeli males in their forties who haven't met before, the second or third thing they'll ask each other is 'where did you serve in the army, what did you do?' And immediately it will be a case of 'oh, my brother was in the same unit' or 'my cousin was your commander.'"