Israeli Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces were established on May 26, 1948 by order of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion following Israel's declaration of independence, formed by unifying existing Jewish paramilitary organizations, chiefly the Haganah alongside the Irgun and Lehi, into a single national military under one General Staff headed by a Chief of the General Staff reporting to the country's Defense Minister. The IDF operates as a unified command structure with three service branches, the Israeli Ground Forces, Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy, organized further into four regional commands, Northern, Central, Southern and Home Front, and it maintains both a large standing force and extensive reserves sustained by mandatory conscription for citizens over eighteen. The IDF has fought in every major armed conflict involving Israel since its founding, including the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that accompanied its own creation, the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1982 Lebanon War, alongside numerous smaller operations and counter-terrorism campaigns in the decades since. Its combination of a unified tri-service command, a citizen reserve system that can rapidly expand the standing force, and continuous operational experience across more than seven decades has made the IDF one of the most closely studied militaries of the modern Middle East.