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Fifty Jewish Iranians join Israeli army every year

February 9, 2014 at 4:22 pm

The Israeli army has announced that 50 Jewish Iranians join the army annually, with some joining the intelligence services.


Data reported by the Israeli defence magazine Bemahanea confirmed that 60 per cent of the Iranian Jews born in Iran join the Israeli army. It also said that only 23 per cent of female Jewish Iranians served in the army.

The magazine also said that one out of five Iranian Jews, who enlists in the army, joins the Israeli intelligence services, while one out of three females joins intelligence services.

Jewish Iranians travel to Israel secretly through a third country. Official Israeli departments do not issue the exact numbers of Jewish Iranians who arrive annually. Data showed that there were 110 new arrivals last year.

One prominent Jewish Iranian is the former Israeli Chief of Staff and Defence Minister Sha’ol Mofaz, who was born in the famous Iranian city of Isfahan.

As the number of Israeli soldiers and intelligence agents is very limited, the data suggests that the Israeli army is trying to persuade more Iranians to remain in the services after their obligatory recruitment.

Source: Anadolu news agency