These Teenagers Are Israel’s Future Soldiers

3 minute read

In a country where military service is mandatory (three years for men and two for women) groups of young Israeli teenagers are increasingly joining advance-training programs to prepare – physically and mentally – for duty.

“In Israel, once you join the army, you become a grown-up,” says Oded Balilty, an Associated Press photographer based in Tel Aviv. “One day, you’re a teenager, the next you’re a soldier with a gun. And so, some of them want to prepare themselves and feel more comfortable with the idea of being a soldier.”

For Israelis, conflict has become a fact of life — Israeli reservists can be called into active duty during times of crisis. “Yet, most kids will often only hear about it in the news; they don’t really live it,” says Balilty. “Of course, during wartime, they go down to shelters if necessary, but they mostly hear about it from their parents and friends around the dining table. Teenagers care about different stuff. They care about dating girls; they care about parties; they care about their iPhones and their iPads.”

For most of them, war only becomes a reality when they start their military service, and end up on the front lines.

Balilty spent six days following 400 students taking part in military combat fitness-training programs organized by Excellent Training, an independent company founded by Nir Cohen, a former Israeli paratrooper. Students meet three times a week, over a year, and are put through grueling exercises designed to strengthen them ahead of their military service. “For example, those who train to join the Navy are sent in the water when it’s cold weather,” says Balilty. “They go in and out, and at the same time the instructors are asking them questions about the history of Israel to see if they’re focused and if they are mentally stable. It’s very intense. [The instructors] want to simulate the tension and stress that soldiers are under in the military.”

The students also learn how to assemble an AK-47 assault rifle, and how to react in an urban, house-to-house fighting situation.

Excellent Training is just one of the many companies, founded by former members of the Israeli military, that have been offering these training programs in the last decade. “There are many others in each large city [in Israel],” says Balilty, who has followed several of these groups in recent months.

In the end, says Balilty, “these teenagers are definitely more ready than most of the teenagers that go straight into the army. I’ve seen 16 and 17-year-old kids that were really mature. Other kids tend to be more scared about joining the army. They can break mentally. So I think this [sort of training] is really helping them.”

Oded Balilty is an Associated Press photographer based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mikko Takkunen, who edited this photo essay, is an Associate Photo Editor at TIME. Follow him on Twitter @photojournalism.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent

Israeli high-school seniors are instructed on the AK-47 assault rifle as part of a privately run military combat fitness training to prepare for national military service in Netanya, central Israel, Feb 17, 2015.
Israeli high-school seniors are instructed on the AK-47 assault rifle as part of a privately run military combat fitness training to prepare for national military service in Netanya, central Israel, Feb. 17, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
Israeli high-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military participate in an urban fighting drill as part of privately run military combat fitness training, in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military participate in an urban fighting drill in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
An Israeli high-school senior preparing to join the Israeli military participates in an urban fighting drill as part of privately run military combat fitness training, in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.
A high-school senior preparing to join the Israeli military participates in an urban fighting drill in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
Israeli high-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military participate in an urban fighting drill as part of privately run military combat fitness training, in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military participate in an urban fighting drill in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
Israeli high-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military participate in an urban fighting drill as part of privately run military combat fitness training, in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military participate in an urban fighting drill in Kibbutz Mizra, northern Israel, March 24, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military later this year take part in a privately run training camp for military combat fitness near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 13, 2015.
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military later this year take part in a privately run training camp for military combat fitness near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 13, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
Israeli high-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military later this year crawl out of mud up to a grassy embankment during an exercise at a privately run training camp for military combat fitness near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 13, 2015.
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military later this year crawl out of mud up to a grassy embankment during an exercise near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 13, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
A high-school senior crawls through mud during an exercise near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 13, 2015.
A high-school senior crawls through mud during an exercise near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 13, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
A high-school senior drags a tire through mud during training near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 27, 2015.
A high-school senior drags a tire through mud during training near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 27, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
An high-school senior pauses in mud during an exercise near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 27, 2015.
An high-school senior pauses in mud during an exercise near Yakum, central Israel, Feb. 27, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military later this year lie in foxholes during training in Shefayim, central Israel, March 5, 2015.
High-school seniors preparing to join the Israeli military later this year lie in foxholes during training in Shefayim, central Israel, March 5, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
High-school seniors walk into the sea carrying weighted bags the during military combat fitness training in Shefayim, central Israel, March 5, 2015.
High-school seniors walk into the sea carrying weighted bags the during military combat fitness training in Shefayim, central Israel, March 5, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP
An exhausted Israeli teen is helped by an instructor during military combat fitness training in Shefayim, central Israel, March 5, 2015.
An exhausted Israeli teen is helped by an instructor during military combat fitness training in Shefayim, central Israel, March 5, 2015.Oded Balilty—AP

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