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Israel’s Forgotten Army

JL;DR SUMMARY The IDF reserves, known as miluim, faced significant shortages and outdated equipment when called to action on October 7, 2023, to combat incursions and attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Oslo AccordsHamasIdfHezbollahIsrael Defense ForcesMiluimReservesMilitary ReadinessStrategic ConceptEquipment Shortages

Places mentioned

Israel
"Eitan, serving in the reserve component of a special operations unit, should have had better gear than most."
Kibbutz Kissufim, Southern District, Israel
"At 6:30 a.m., the alarms began to sound on Kissufim base. By 7 a.m., the soldiers were mobilizing to defend the adjacent kibbutz full of civilian families."
Gaza, Palestinian Territories
"A few kilometers away, on the other side of Israels high-tech security fence sat the city of Deir al-Balah in Gaza."
United States
"Cohen draws a critical distinction here that can be lost in news reports and PowerPoint presentations but makes a great deal of difference to an army in the field."
Florida, United States
"In addition to running his own nonprofit group out of Florida called Unit 11741 to donate tactical gear to the IDF, Mael also posted regular articles on his muckraking Substack called The Mael Review."
Pennsylvania, United States
"A Jewish American in Burbank or Pittsburgh who donated to the FIDF based on those appeals likely believed that their money was going to buy the kind of critical military equipment, like helmets and vests, that Israeli soldiers were loudly asking for in public appeals."

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Cairo Item ID 63261
Cairo Source ID 10
Retrieved 2025-10-07 05:30:19 UTC
Curated 2025-10-07 08:31:53 UTC