Havatzalot Program

The Havatzalot Program (Hebrew: תכנית חבצלות‎‎) is an elite program in the Israel Defense Forces, based upon the concept of Talpiot program, aimed to train highly skilled intelligence officers. Havatzalot's cadets complete a full 3-year bachelor's double major degree. The first major is a unique compilation of different courses in Middle Eastern Studies, Political Science and Sociology. The cadets are free to choose their second major in Haifa University in addition to rigorous military and intelligence training. The training is followed by 6 years in key positions in Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate.

The suitability to the Havatzalot program is tested and evaluated in several aspects. First, the candidates must be curious and have an affinity to current events and issues on the security agenda of the State of Israel. Second, they are required to have high learning abilities and to be outstanding students in high school. In addition, they must have high social skills and the ability to lead. This is due both to the nature of the program's training and to the nature of the subsequent positions, in which graduates of the program are required to command teams through intensive and joint work.

Candidates for the Havatzalot program are required to have a “quality group” (one of the primary screening tools for candidates for service in the IDF) of 55 and above, and a primary psychotechnical rating (a grade given by the IDF and the Israel Police to candidates for recruitment, which is supposed to reflect the candidate's intellectual ability, based on a series of psychometric tests) of 80 or higher.

The selection process includes:

The training program for Havatzalot is one of the longest and most prestigious in the IDF, and provides the students with the knowledge, thinking skills and values ​​required for graduates of the program in their positions. Each year about 40 trainees are accepted into the program. The program is 36 months long, and most of it takes place in closed base conditions in the program’s compound in the University of Haifa. All of the terms of service and training content, including tuition fees for the academic degree, are fully funded by the IDF. Also, all the officers commanding during the training are graduates of the Havatzalot program. The training of Havatzalot can be divided into four main points: academy, military, intelligence, and ideological values.

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