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Israel
Nahal
The Pioneer Fighting Youth (Noar Halutzi Lohem--Nahal) was an
organization that combined military service with agricultural
training in a tradition that recalled the vision of the original
Zionist pioneers. The primary activity of Nahal, one of the "functional
commands" within the IDF organizational structure, was the establishment
and maintenance of military and agricultural outposts or settlements.
Nahal's military missions were to provide advance warning, to
serve as a first line of defense against ground attack along the
borders, to prevent infiltration, and to assist and support Israeli
occupation authorities in the territories. Its nonmilitary missions
were to develop previously unused land for agriculture, to assist
in the socialization of immigrant and delinquent youth, and, since
1967, to assert Israeli rule in the immediate area surrounding
new settlements. Many military commanders, however, felt that
the program siphoned off some of the best quality recruits for
lower priority duty. Under pressure from the army, the system
was altered so that only about one-third of a conscript's service
was in agricultural training and on a kibbutz, the remaining time
being devoted to regular military activities.
In 1988 Nahal had an estimated total strength of 5,000 men and
women who had volunteered upon call-up. The basic unit was the
platoon, which ranged from about twenty to eighty young people
depending on assignment. A small headquarters served as a command
element for a number of platoons located in the same general area.
Platoons were assigned either to reinforce existing frontier settlements
or to establish new ones in areas unsuitable for development by
the civilian population. Strategic considerations were fundamental
in selecting locations for Nahal units. Some sites were later
abandoned as no longer useful; others became permanent civilian
settlements.
Data as of December 1988
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