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The IDF's First Muslim Non-Bedouin Officer
(Times of Israel) Gianluca Pacchiani - In 2008, at age 24, Hisham Abu Raya became the first non-Bedouin Muslim officer in the Israeli army. He was discharged from the army with the rank of major in 2018, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel (res.) in 2022. Military service is voluntarily for most Arab Israelis. "Up until 10 years ago, you could count the number of non-Bedouin Muslim recruits in the IDF on the fingers of one hand," he said. Following his discharge, he founded "Ma'an," a project to strengthen ties between the State of Israel and young Arab citizens. The project now runs in 20 schools in Muslim areas to improve knowledge of Israeli history and civics and promote recruitment into the IDF. The program also runs in Christian Arab schools. Abu Raya estimated that today there are "a few hundred" soldiers from the Arab community enlisted in the IDF, adding that the ranks are growing. "If you want to advance in Israeli society and feel equal, army service is your entry ticket. That's how it was for me. The army embraced me. All the Arabs I know who went to the army today own a house and have a steady job. They have gone ahead in life." "On Oct. 7, the penny dropped among Arab Israelis. They saw that Hamas opened fire on everyone, and did not distinguish between Jewish and Muslim citizens. And there are still Muslim hostages in the hands of Hamas. It was the same during the 2006 Second Lebanon War - nearly half of the civilian victims in Israel (18 out of 43) were Arabs. Rockets don't distinguish between Moshe and Ali."