The Times of Israel May 5, 2025
They came to serve: The lone soldiers defending Israel after October 7

More than 1,100 new immigrants join the IDF this spring as antisemitism abroad and the trauma of the Hamas onslaught drive a new generation to enlist

In the aftermath of October 7, Israel’s community of lone soldiers — young men and women serving in the IDF without parental support — has grown in both size and significance, as enlistment surges and motivations deepen.

After completing their mandatory service, many lone soldiers stay on as reservists — a role that has taken on renewed visibility since the outbreak of the war, with over 300,000 reservists being called up for duty since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

Today, Israel is home to an estimated 7,000 lone soldiers.
Roughly half are volunteers from abroad; the rest are Israeli-born soldiers without parental support, such as orphans or those from broken homes.

Many of the Israeli lone soldiers come from Haredi households that disapprove of their decision to enlist.

A total of 709 lone soldiers were drafted in the March-April recruitment period, but the IDF did not specify how many were international volunteers and how many were Israeli-born.