Military Propensity Among Israel Defense Forces’ Potential Conscripts: A Re-Examination and Differentiation by Personal Preferences of Enlistment Motivation

Israel, a unique case in the Western world, maintains a whole-mandatory military service, thus maintaining a “People’s Army” model. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) enjoys a law-based compulsory recruitment system. Despite many significant changes occurring in recent decades, the motivation of Israeli youth to fulfill their military service has remained quite high and stable throughout the last decades. To understand the issues affecting the perpetuation of this trend over the years, this study suggests a new perspective of analyzing military motivation and its components. Utilizing a large survey sample of potential candidates for mandatory conscription, we analyzed both conscripts’ general willingness to enlist and their propensities toward and preference for specific types of service. The findings of the present study query Moskos’ original thesis of the Institution/Occupation (I/O) model and show the “coexistence” subsisting among Israeli youth between two seemingly conflicting propensities—the “Self-actualization” and “Contributing to nation’s security.”