How Many Druze Serve in the Israeli Army? Conscription Is About 78%
Druze conscription stood at about 78% in June 2023 on the Defence Ministry’s figure. No Israeli body publishes a count of Druze soldiers serving.
Druze conscription stood at about 78% as of June 2023, on the Ministry of Defence’s own figure in its freedom-of-information report for 2023. The Knesset Research and Information Centre relayed that rate in January 2025. It is a rate, not a headcount, and no Israeli body on this page publishes the number of Druze soldiers serving. Druze men have been called to compulsory service since 1956, and Druze women are not called up.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| About 78% | Druze conscription rate, the Ministry of Defence’s own figure | Ministry of Defence freedom-of-information report, via the Knesset Research and Information Centre | As of June 2023 |
| 69.2% | Graduates of Druze schools conscripted, as a share of those the IDF defined as liable for service | Ministry of Education data, via the Knesset Research and Information Centre | 2019/20 graduates |
| 88.5% | Graduates of Jewish state schools conscripted, on the same base | Ministry of Education data, via the Knesset Research and Information Centre | 2019/20 graduates |
| 1,330 | Druze boys aged 18 | Central Bureau of Statistics special tabulation for the Knesset Research and Information Centre | End of 2022 |
| 1.7% | Druze share of all 76,961 boys aged 18 | Central Bureau of Statistics special tabulation for the Knesset Research and Information Centre | End of 2022 |
| 1956 | First year Druze men were called to compulsory service | Knesset Research and Information Centre | 1956 onward |
| Not called | Druze women, under the IDF’s own standing Personnel Directorate order; any woman not called may volunteer | Knesset Research and Information Centre | Order updated March 2021 |
The Defence Ministry puts Druze conscription at about 78%
The Defence Ministry puts the Druze conscription rate at about 78% as of June 2023. The figure is the Ministry of Defence’s own and comes from its freedom-of-information report for 2023. It reached the Knesset through the Knesset Research and Information Centre’s January 2025 paper on conscription by population group.
- Whose figure: the Ministry of Defence’s own, from its 2023 freedom-of-information report.
- Period: as of June 2023.
- What it is: a conscription rate within the Druze group, given as “about 78%”.
- What it is not: a number of soldiers, or a Druze share of IDF personnel. No source here gives either.
- Who it covers: men, the group the Knesset paper addresses.
The Knesset paper counts 1,330 Druze boys aged 18
The Knesset Research and Information Centre counts 1,330 Druze boys aged 18 at the end of 2022, from a special Central Bureau of Statistics tabulation. They make up 1.7% of all 76,961 boys of that age. The 1.7% is a share of one age group of boys. The paper gives no Druze share of the population or of the army.
This is the yearly cohort the call-up draws on. It sits inside Israel’s Druze population, and the same tabulation gives the cohorts two and twelve years younger.
69.2% of Druze school graduates enlisted, against 88.5% in Jewish state schools
The Knesset Research and Information Centre published a second rate on a different base. The Centre reports that 69.2% of graduates of Druze schools were conscripted, against 88.5% in Jewish state schools. These are the Ministry of Education’s own data for 2019/20 graduates, counted as a share of those the IDF defined as liable for service under its own criteria.
| The 69.2% | The about 78% | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose data | Ministry of Education’s own | Ministry of Defence’s own |
| Share of what | Graduates of Druze schools supervised by the Ministry of Education whom the IDF defined as liable | Druze, as the Ministry of Defence report gives it |
| Period | 2019/20 graduates | As of June 2023 |
| Route to the public | Knesset Research and Information Centre, January 2025 | Knesset Research and Information Centre, January 2025 |
The two rates come from different bodies, bases and years. They may not be averaged, read as a trend, or reconciled with each other.
Druze men have been called up since 1956, Druze women are not
The Knesset Research and Information Centre records that Druze men have been called to compulsory service since 1956, at the request of the community’s leaders. Druze women are not called up, under the IDF’s own standing Personnel Directorate order, which applies even though the law’s definition of liability covers them. The rates above cover men.
- Druze men: called to compulsory service since 1956.
- Circassian men: called since 1958, under the same arrangement.
- Religious Druze men serving in a religious role or studying for one: may receive deferral and then exemption, in what the Centre’s January 2025 paper calls “apparently small numbers”.
- Druze residents of the Golan Heights: as far as the January 2025 paper knows, the duty is not enforced on them, and they may volunteer.
- Druze women: not called under the IDF’s own Personnel Directorate order, updated March 2021, as recorded in the Centre’s April 2024 paper. Anyone not called under that order may volunteer.
No Israeli body publishes a count of Druze soldiers serving
None of the Israeli sources on this page gives a total for Druze in compulsory, career or reserve service. Both Knesset Research and Information Centre papers give rates and cohort sizes only. The Centre’s January 2025 paper states that the IDF does not publish conscription rates for the population or by group in a regular, orderly way.
The IDF released its own count of Haredi enlistees by enlistment year in July 2026, answering a freedom-of-information request under the statutory definition of Haredi. That response covers Haredi men and carries no Druze figure.
- Druze soldiers in compulsory service: no published figure.
- Druze in career service: no published figure.
- Druze in the reserves: no published figure.
- Druze women serving as volunteers: no published figure.
- Golan Heights Druze serving as volunteers: no published figure.
- Druze share of IDF personnel: no published figure.
Which of these figures may not be combined?
- The about 78% is the Ministry of Defence’s own figure, from its 2023 freedom-of-information report, as of June 2023.
- The 69.2% and 88.5% are the Ministry of Education’s own data for 2019/20 graduates, on the IDF’s own definition of who was liable.
- Do not multiply 1,330 by 78% or by 69.2%. The figures differ in source, date and base, and the product is no published count of soldiers.
- The 1.7% is a share of boys aged 18 at the end of 2022, not of the population or of the army.
Questions readers ask
Do Druze men have to serve in the Israeli army?
Yes. The Knesset Research and Information Centre records that Druze men have been called to compulsory service since 1956, at the request of the community’s leaders.
Do Druze women serve in the IDF?
Only as volunteers. The Knesset Research and Information Centre reported in April 2024 that, under the IDF’s own standing Personnel Directorate order updated March 2021, Druze women are not called up, although the law’s definition of liability covers them.
What share of Druze are conscripted?
The Ministry of Defence put the Druze conscription rate at about 78% as of June 2023. This is its own figure, from its freedom-of-information report for 2023, relayed by the Knesset Research and Information Centre.
How many Druze turn 18 each year?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre counts 1,330 Druze boys aged 18 at the end of 2022, from a special Central Bureau of Statistics tabulation.
Are Druze 1.7% of the Israeli army?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre puts Druze boys at 1.7% of all 76,961 boys aged 18 at the end of 2022. The Centre publishes no Druze share of IDF personnel.
Can the 78% be applied to the 1,330 to get a number of soldiers?
No. The Knesset Research and Information Centre published the two figures from different sources and dates: the Ministry of Defence’s own rate for June 2023 and a Bureau cohort for the end of 2022. Their product is no published count.
Do Druze in the Golan Heights serve?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre states that, as far as is known, the service duty is not enforced on Druze residents of the Golan Heights, and that they may volunteer.
Are religious Druze men exempt?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre states that religious Druze men serving in a religious role or studying for one may receive deferral and then exemption, in what it calls “apparently small numbers”.
How does enlistment from Druze schools compare with Jewish state schools?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre reported 69.2% for graduates of Druze schools and 88.5% for Jewish state schools. Both are the Ministry of Education’s own data for 2019/20 graduates, as shares of those the IDF defined as liable.
When were Circassians first called up?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre records that Circassian men have been called since 1958, under the same arrangement as Druze men.
Does the IDF publish enlistment rates by population group?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre stated in January 2025 that the IDF does not publish conscription rates for the population or by group in a regular, orderly way.
How many Druze boys are in younger cohorts?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre counts 1,358 Druze boys aged 16 and 1,256 aged 6 at the end of 2022, on the same Bureau tabulation.
Who is the law’s duty of service written for?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre reported in April 2024 that, under the Defence Service Law, a person liable for enlistment is every Israeli citizen who has turned 18 and has not been exempted. The duty in the law is not limited to men.
Sources
- Israel Defense Forces, 2026. Response to a freedom-of-information request on Haredi enlistment in the IDF (בקשתך למידע בנושא גיוס חרדים לצה”ל). IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Freedom of Information Section, 5 July 2026. https://www.idf.il/media/jgeipuzr/מענה-לבקשה-בנושא-גיוס-חרדים-לצהל.pdf. Official or primary record.
- Knesset Research and Information Centre, 2024. Draft-Liable 18-Year-Olds and Enlistment Rates by Population Group, Update. 4 April 2024. https://fs.knesset.gov.il/globaldocs/MMM/2e7046f7-7df2-ee11-8162-005056aa4246/2_2e7046f7-7df2-ee11-8162-005056aa4246_11_20527.pdf. Official or primary record.
- Knesset Research and Information Centre, 2025. Conscription and Exemption from Conscription for Men in Different Population Groups: Arrangements and Data. 6 January 2025. https://fs.knesset.gov.il/globaldocs/MMM/32b8ae93-49cc-ef11-a856-005056aa1f91/2_32b8ae93-49cc-ef11-a856-005056aa1f91_11_20777.pdf. Official or primary record.
