Here’s a cover story I bet you’d never expect to see in an Arab magazine, let alone a Saudi one

Last weekend’s edition of the Saudi magazine Al Majalla, published from London, ran a cover story unusual in the Arab world – a positive feature about Arab Israelis who serve in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces).

All Israeli citizens are required to do mandatory service in the IDF, with the exception of the Arab Muslim and Arab Christian communities. Yet every year, hundreds of Arab-Israelis volunteer to join the IDF. As one of them said, “When rockets are launched into Israel from Gaza or Lebanon, they don’t distinguish Muslims or Christians from Jews.”

Israelhayom The article describes how a battalion of combat troops assembles early one morning in the Negev Desert. “And yet, these are not regular soldiers, but Arabs who chose to volunteer to fight and even sacrifice their lives to defend the state of Israel,” the piece tells readers.

“These young people, who include women, are proud to be part of the Israeli army. One of the young men, A-Raqib Imad, says proudly, ‘It’s a great honor to hold a weapon in one hand and the Quran in the other to defend my homeland, Israel,’” the article continues.

The article also says that mainstream media outlets err in their portrayals of the Israeli military out of the mistaken perception that it only represents Jewish Israelis, and notes that the IDF represents all Israelis – Jews, Muslim, and Druze.

One of the interviewees is Maj. Ala, an Arab woman who currently serves as deputy IDF spokesperson in Arabic. The article notes that she was promoted to major in 2021, becoming the first Arab Muslim woman to hold that rank in the history of the IDF.

“In the first 18 months [of my service] I kept the fact that I was serving a secret. But my mother came into my room when I was on leave one weekend, without knocking, and found the Israeli uniform. She looked at the uniform and looked at me and started to cry. But quietly, so no one would hear,” Ala tells the magazine. It took a year and a half for Ala’s father to forgive her decision, but in the end, both he and her mother accepted their daughter’s decision and have even expressed pride that she is serving.

The article mentions Arab Israeli opposition to members of the community enlisting in the IDF, quoting former MK Hanin Zoami, who said, “Israel aspires to enlist the poor and the unemployed to work in the army. Ninety percent of the Arabs who serve in the Israeli army aren’t necessary to the defense of Israel. It’s a political issue.”

Al Majalla also spoke to Alaa Hassan Kaabia, an Arab Israeli who spent two decades in the army and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

“The IDF is the only institution in which there is no discrimination and there is total equality and integration. It’s not true that people enlist merely for economic reasons. Most of the Arab Israelis who joined the army did so for one reason – they want to be part of the country. They want to integrate into civilian society and get better employment opportunities. Most companies prefer candidates who completed military service,” Kaabia, who now serves as deputy spokesman for Arabic media at the Foreign Ministry, said.

A Senior IDF Official from the Manpower Directorate said “We are not holding a stick and forcing people to join. We have enough soldiers in the IDF who are more than capable to protect Israel. Israel is for all Israelis – Jews, Muslims, Bedouins, Christians, Druze and so on. The IDF is here to serve all the people of Israel. We see the IDF as a home, a family where everyone should made to feel welcomed and included. Israel is a multi-faith and cultural society with many minorities. The IDF can be a great platform to connect all of to us to our homeland, Israel.”