04/22/2026
If you know you know
If you see in these portraits soulless warriors, then you don’t know. You know very little about Israel and about the population that makes up its army.
Others know. They know that the Israel Defense Forces are rightly regarded by military experts around the world as the most moral army of all. The one that upholds the defense of the State of Israel, human dignity, and the “purity of arms.” The one that follows the Ruach Tzahal code (the Spirit of the IDF) and guides its soldiers with values of defense, patriotism, human dignity, and professionalism.
It is also the only army that warns before a strike in order to avoid human casualties victims of a war launched by their own leaders.
By speaking with each of those I photographed while visiting IDF bases, I understood what Israel had succeeded in achieving where many other countries have failed. The mix of origins within its population, the differences in skin color, cultures, education levels, social backgrounds, religions, all united by a common patriotism, in the noblest sense of the term.
So those who already know all this have no difficulty seeing in these portraits an engineering student who will postpone his degree by two years or more, an architect and father of two, a florist who closed his shop for an indefinite period, a pediatrician passionate about judo, a DJ whose partner belongs to another brigade, an apprentice pastry chef, an electrician, or a depressed CFO.
This diversity is a concrete reality that reflects Israeli society as a whole, and its army as well. It is one of the strengths of this young state and indisputable proof of the success of its creation.
Happy Birthday 🇮🇱
