Religion and Military Conscription

Abstract

The military benefits from fostering an “us-feeling” among its members. On what basis is this formed? Rooted in the discipline of religion, the following article explores how religion feeds into the selective conscription practices of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Combining legal documents with data gathered through interviews with thirty-four soldiers in a combat battalion, it is argued that the IDF’s conscription practices are sensitive to the contents of religion. The IDF applies a multifarious concept of religion with significant impact on the IDF’s ability to foster a sense of “us.” The IDF recruits draftees on the basis of a twofold definition of Judaism, either as an ethnic group or as a theological concept. Both definitions help determine whether one is drafted. Interviews with soldiers expand on this definition, drawing attention to the integrative as well as disintegrative consequences of this notion of religion within the IDF.