Gadna (Israel)

Gadna (Hebrew: גדנ״ע‎) is an Israeli military program that prepares young people for military service in the Israel Defense Forces. It was established before the foundation of the State of Israel and was anchored in law in 1949. Today it is a one-week program of discipline and military training usually under commanders serving with the Nahal infantry brigade. Gadna hosts an estimated 19,000 Israeli youth annually, as well as numerous foreign youths.

Gadna, an abbreviation for Gdudei No'ar (גדודי נוער‎; lit. youth battalions), was an organization for youth created before the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Alongside preliminary training for military service, Gadna clubs taught Zionist history, promoted love of the Land of Israel and encouraged members to engage in farming and volunteerism. Social activities included readings of ideological material from Labor Zionist newspapers and publications.

The program was established in the early 1940s by the Haganah, which became the core of the IDF. Thousands of Gadna members fought in Israel's War of Independence.

In June 1949, the Knesset passed a law requiring men and women who were physically and mentally fit to serve in the military from the age of 18. The law also provided for the establishment of the Gadna semi-military framework to prepare high school students for military service.

The commanders, the "Mefakdim" or "Mefakdot" (מפקדים‎ or מפקדות‎, masculine and feminine plurals), who are sergeants and officers, wear either the green beret of the Nahal infantry brigade, (though they do not have the infantry badge on their beret, or the Nahal shoulder tag) or the general IDF green beret, wearing the Education and Youth Corps badge and tag instead. The commanders wear a brown braid on their left shoulders. Trainees in Gadna are issued uniforms consisting of fatigue or B uniform ("Bet Uniforms", מדי ב‎) pants and a shirt, a military belt, a canteen, and a canteen holder. Trainees do not receive military shoes. Upon arrival, trainees are given hats which must be worn at all times. Trainees with long hair, both boys and girls, must always tie their hair.

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