Desperate for soldiers: ‘Israel’ considered recruiting children of foreign workers

• The ‘Israeli’ military considered a program to recruit hundreds of children of foreign workers to address a shortage of troops and reservists.
• The plan targeted youth who were born and raised in ‘Israel’ and spoke Hebrew as their primary language, offering a path to integration, though the initiative stalled following leadership changes at the Immigration Authority.

The ‘Israeli’ military studied the possibility of recruiting children of foreign workers into their ranks, according to documents obtained by Hebrew channel 12.

The reason cited is the shortage of fighters and reservists, after a long period of assault on the Gaza Strip and others in the Middle East.

The report said the programme was supposed to kick off early in the way, and there were plans to recruit 100 “children of foreign workers”, but it stalled and put on the shelf due to the departure of the Population and Immigration Authority’s director.

According to data from the Population and Immigration Authority, there are 3,752 children of foreign workers aged 15-25 whose place of residence is ‘Israel’.

According to ‘Israeli’ law, it is possible to recruit foreigners whose place of residence is ‘Israel’ to the military.

"The recruitment of these children is a win-win situation. This is true for both the children and the army. These are children who cannot be taken out of the country, and the army lacks soldiers,” a source familiar with the details told Channel 12.

“These are children who were born in the State of Israel, grew up here, attended an Israeli school, speak Hebrew as their mother tongue, and do not know any other culture. These are high-level guys who really want to integrate because they do not know anything else,” the source added.