Editing Israel Defense Forces (section)

===Druze and Circassians===
[[File:DruzeSoldier.jpg|thumb|A [[Druze]] commander of the IDF Herev battalion]]

Although Israel has a majority of Jewish soldiers, all citizens including large numbers of [[Israeli Druze|Druze]] and [[Circassians in Israel|Circassian]] men are subject to mandatory conscription.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aka.idf.il/brothers/skira/default.asp?catId=57478&docId |title=IDF human resources site |publisher=IDF |access-date=10 June 2010 |language=he |archive-date=28 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928071234/http://www.aka.idf.il/brothers/skira/default.asp?catId=57478&docId |url-status=dead }}</ref> Originally, they served in the framework of a special unit called "The Minorities' Unit", which operated until 2015 in the form of the independent Herev Gdud [[IDF Sword Battalion|("Sword") battalion]]. However, since the 1980s Druze soldiers have increasingly protested this practice, which they considered a means of segregating them and denying them access to elite units (like [[sayeret]] units). The army has increasingly admitted Druze soldiers to regular combat units and promoted them to higher ranks from which they had been previously excluded.

In 2015, Rav Aluf [[Gadi Eizenkot]] ordered the unit's closure to assimilate the Druze soldiers no differently than Jewish soldiers, as part of an ongoing reorganization of the army. Several Druze officers reached ranks as high as Major General, and many received commendations for distinguished service. In proportion to their numbers, the Druze people achieve much higher—documented—levels in the Israeli army than other soldiers. Nevertheless, some Druze still charge that discrimination continues, such as exclusion from the [[Israel Air Force|Air Force]], although the official low-security classification for Druze has been abolished for some time. The first Druze aircraft navigator completed his training course in 2005. Like all Air Force pilots, his identity is not disclosed. During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], many Druze who had initially sided with the Arabs deserted their ranks to either return to their villages or side with Israel in various capacities.<ref name="Gelber">{{cite news |title= Druze and Jews in the war of 1948. (Israel-Arab War of 1948–49)|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16921885.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528194735/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16921885.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 May 2007|author=Gelber, Yoav |date=1 April 1995|work=Middle Eastern Studies}}</ref>

Since the late 1970s, the Druze Initiative Committee, centred at the village of [[Beit Jan]] and linked to [[Maki (political party)|Maki]], has campaigned to abolish Druze conscription.

Military service is a tradition among some of the Druze population, with most opposition in Druze communities of the [[Golan Heights]]. 83 per cent of Druze boys serve in the army, according to the IDF's statistics.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=129391 |title=Covenant of blood |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |author=Larry Derfner |date=15 January 2009 |access-date=10 June 2010 |archive-date=1 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001060221/http://www.jpost.com/home/article.aspx?id=129391 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the Israeli army in 2010, 369 Druze soldiers had been killed in combat operations since 1948.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dover.idf.il/IDF/News_Channels/Personal/10/10/1102.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324151019/http://dover.idf.il/IDF/News_Channels/Personal/10/10/1102.htm|archive-date=24 March 2012|title=מוכנים לטייס הדרוזי הראשון?|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>