When the Israel Defense Forces was first established, the 1949 defense service law determined that compulsory military service for men would be two years. As for women, the IDF was the first military in the world for which one year of service was made mandatory. Three years later, the law was amended and military service was extended to two and a half years for men and two years for women. Over the years, consensus that this service was too long grew, so in the early 1960s, compulsory service for men was reduced to two years and two months.
When I first entered the army in 1966, the IDF was thinking about extending military service again, so my military ID did not list when my service would end, only when it began. A few months later, it was decided — much to the dismay of everyone who was drafted with me — that compulsory military service would go back to being two and a half years. After the 1967 Six-Day War, with the country overwhelmed by the euphoria of victory and occupation, we were sure that the extended military service would no longer be necessary. But then, in January 1968, compulsory service for men was extended yet again in order for the IDF to maintain control over the newly occupied territories. This time, compulsory service for men was extended to three years.
