Something I agree with critics of Israel
One thing I will say many critics of Israel are essentially right about, is this: Israel is a militarized society.
In typical Western countries like the United States or Europe it is normative that when one finishes high school they either enter the work force or of course focus on higher education. In Israeli society, things are a bit different; conscription to the IDF is of course mandatory, yet nowadays if one really does not want to serve they could find a way. Serving in the military for three years is without a doubt the norm. But the way Israeli society engages with their army is different than many other countries in some sense. In the West, a professional army is typical, where a soldier hardly sees home, and civilians witnessing soldiers is a relatively rare sight. In Israel, a common sight is to see a significant amount of college aged boys or girls with AirPods at train stations on Sunday mornings - the start of the Israeli work week, heading off to their bases (for a week, a couple of weeks, or even a day depending on what they do) in a country the size of New Jersey. You often observe middle aged women giving these uniformed personnel treats on their way. It is typical to see children in outside military exhibits climbing on tanks for display and talking with IDF soldiers on Independence Day. It is common to witness driven teenagers exercising in structured groups seeking to conscript to the special forces. It is ordinary to see daddy going away for reserve duty every now and then. It’s also noteworthy that contrary to what may be perceived, roughly 90% of IDF soldiers are “Jobnics” (from English “Job”) who aren’t in a combat role. Thus their position feels more like a job in a uniform. Soldiers do get paid, but it’s a symbolic amount, much less than the minimum wage.
Aside from the melting pot of nationalized service that is the IDF, there are plenty other ways one can contribute to the state as someone who just finished high school. Religious girls can choose to take part in “Sherut Leumi” (national service) instead of going to the army, which may present itself in something like helping at a hospital in those years of your life. It is also increasingly common to delay your service in the army and go to “mechina” (preparatory): a gap year of sorts of informal education, where one has fun and self improves themselves for the army or life in general. You could even delay the army by one year and go to Sherut Leumi. After a usually exhausting three years in the army it is typical of young Israelis to travel to Latin America or the Far East for a few months, then enter higher education only around the early to mid 20’s.
What the IDF helped create, I think, is this conception that one needs to contribute to the state, in some way. Going to college at 18 isn’t absolutely unheard of, but there is this sentiment, “what about contributing - Somehow?” Which is perplexing to me because beginning a degree early may actually contribute to the state more than many of the positions in the IDF or Sherut Leumi. But those positions are seen as you giving from yourself, so it is placed on a higher shelf.
Israel is often compared to militarized states like Prussia (jokingly said by Voltaire to be an army with a state) whether as a compliment or not. Benjamin Netanyahu himself rhetorically said Israel needs to “act like Sparta” - to be strong and independent out of necessity. “Militarized” or not, there definitely is more of this sentiment that one ought to contribute in some sense, ideally in a national service. This does not imply authoritarianism, just a different sociological structure where military service interacts with civilian life and blurs those lines.
The question that arises from this topic is how much of this was driven by necessity. It can be easy to forget that Israelis who are in favor of the mandatory draft are essentially only referring to Israel. They wouldn’t hold those beliefs if they were living in Norway. The situation, whether at war or simply peacetime security conditions, demands a lot of manpower. Would contemporary Israel be able to function as a typical professional army? Can the army make that change? I don’t know, but I like to think that the answer is yes. As the common IDF expression goes, “there is no ‘I can’t’, only ‘I don’t want to’.”