80 percent of new recruits want to serve in combat units

The “Yoter” [more] club, a division of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers, hosted a massive recruitment party at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. This annual celebration salutes young Israelis who are about to join the armed forces. This marked the 7th year of the annual celebration, with more than 20,000 teenagers in attendance.

Among those saluting the new soldiers was Israel's first female major-general, Orna Barbivay who said, "Over the course of the last year, 80 percent of new recruits asked to serve in combat units. This makes Israel very proud of its youth. The Israel Defense Forces is doing its best to absorb each individual and we look forward to seeing all of you.”

The event featured many popular artists, among them jazz/hip-hop group Hadag Nahash, singers Ninet Tayeb, Lior Narkis, and Roni Dalumi. The Bakum (the IDF reception and sorting base) set up computer stations for the new recruits to find more information about their desired unit and to submit their enlistment preferences.

Chairman of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers, Brig-General (res.) Avigdor Kahalani also attended. "These new recruits are going to be our defenders for the next three years, so we organized this event to salute them before their upcoming enlistment," he said.