Last modified: 2024-08-31 by martin karner
Keywords: israel | idf | zahal |
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images located by Martin Karner
(source)
image located by Martin Karner
(source)
Celebration paper flag with Israel national flag and Nahal emblem (20x7 cm, probably 1960s). Same design
on obverse and reverse, with the emblem in the fly. The hoist is improvised by two hand-made holes. The
seller on eBay describes the flag as a jubilee flag for Independence Day. Second item: Paper pennant with
Nahal emblem.
In 1948, a core group of Jewish pioneers wrote to Israel's first and then-current Prime Minister David
Ben-Gurion, requesting that members be allowed to do their military service as a group rather than being
split up into different units at random. In response to this letter, Ben-Gurion created the Nahal program,
which combined military service and farming. Some 108 kibbutzim and agricultural settlements were
established by the Nahal, many of them on Israel's borders.
During the 1990s, the program changed its objectives and as for today combines military service with mostly
social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities.
Today, there are two distinct units carrying on the historical tradition and name of the Nahal. The first,
Nahal and Youth Command, is a large, non-combat command belonging to the IDF Education Corps, whose primary
responsibility is to organize and coordinate the volunteer-type programs and activities that made the original
Nahal unit famous in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. This command has a full staff of educational officers and
soldiers, and also sponsors other endeavours such as Gadna, a week-long "introduction" to
the military for high-schoolers in which they become acquainted with the history, traditions, and routines
of the military that they are about to join.
The Nahal Group is a form of community service developed in Israel, which combines social
volunteerism, agriculture and military service. The service is divided into several parts:
Martin Karner, 14 July 2024
images located by Martin Karner
(source)
image located by Martin Karner
(source)
Celebration paper flag with Israel national flag and Infantry emblem (20x7 cm, probably 1960s). Same
design on obverse and reverse, with the emblem in the fly. The hoist is improvised by two hand-made holes.
The seller on eBay describes the flag as a jubilee flag for Independence Day. Inscription on emblem:
kheil raglim (infantry). Second item: Paper pennant with Infantry emblem.
Martin Karner, 14 July 2024
images located by Martin Karner
(source)
image located by Martin Karner
(source)
Celebration paper flag with Israel national flag and Navy emblem (20x7 cm, probably 1960s). Same
design on obverse and reverse, with the emblem in the fly. The hoist is improvised by two hand-made holes.
The seller on eBay describes the flag as a jubilee flag for Independence Day. Second item: Paper pennant
with Navy emblem.
Martin Karner, 14 July 2024
images located by Martin Karner
(source)
image located by Martin Karner
(source)
Celebration paper flag with Israel national flag and Combat Engineering Corps emblem (20x7 cm, probably
1960s). Same design on obverse and reverse, with the emblem in the fly. The hoist is improvised by two
hand-made holes.
The seller on eBay describes the flag as a jubilee flag for Independence Day. Inscription on
emblem: kheil handassah (engineering corps). Second item: Paper pennant with Combat Engineering Corps
emblem.
Martin Karner, 14 July 2024
image located by Martin Karner
(source)
Celebration paper pennant with emblem of Artillery Corps (Israel Defense Forces, probably 1960s).
Inscription on emblem: kheil tothanim (artillery corps)
Martin Karner, 14 July 2024
