Pre Military Preparatory Courses (Mechinot) are supervised and accredited by the Israel Ministry of Education and supervised by the IDF for Israeli youth about to begin their obligatory military service.

These unique Mechinot are designed to encourage IDF conscripts to volunteer for command positions in elite combat units.

The courses, imbued with Jewish ethics and conducted in an atmosphere of general academic excellence, pave the way for meaningful service in the Israel Defense Forces. They cultivate a cadre of socially conscious, well educated and uniquely motivated IDF officers and future community leaders.

Thirty-two programs are conducted throughout Israel from the Golan in the north to the Negev Desert in the south, as well as in traditionally disadvantaged communities in Israel’s periphery. These courses are open to the entire spectrum of the Israeli population: religious, secular and immigrant youth.

Accomplishments:

• Course participants are twice as likely as regular army conscripts to reach officer and command positions in the IDF
• Over 50 percent of course participants serve in combat roles compared to 30 percent of other conscripts
• Overwhelming majority of participants successfully complete the course, evidenced by negligible drop-out rate
• 31 courses with 1,842 participants now operate across Israel, up from just a single course in 1987 when the initiative was begun
• Creation of innovative secular-religious preparatory courses
• promoting shared values and social cohesion

What we do:

At Arzei HaLevanon, one of the leading Mechinot, with over 50 students in attendance each academic year, provides unique leadership education imbuing participants aged 17-21 with Jewish and Zionist values, and a sense of purpose inspiring them to perform to the best of their abilities both during and after their military service.

Most recently a new innovative program has been established for alumni… soldiers who have completed their army service after participated in the Second Lebanon War and the recent campaign in Gaza. All have served in front line combat units. Their particularly difficult service requires new, innovative programming affording them the tools to integrate into civilian life after traumatic circumstances of service, to maximize possible civilian applications of what they have learned and experienced, and in most cases receive professional counseling as well.