Military Boarding Schools
Navy Officers Acre – The oldest naval youth village in the country. Students study here from 9th to 12th grade, and accept students for 9th or 10th grades. The subject of command, sailing and the sea, as well as the field of technological subjects, are the main characteristics of the place. Some of the students are in the Navy’s premilitary system, meaning they are guaranteed their place in the Navy, with a number of conditions, and some are not in the premilitary system.
The Military Command Boarding School in Haifa – a unique military boarding school in the country where the next generation of commanders in the IDF is developed. The official initiation ceremony for the first class took place on October 22, 1953. Major Zvi Zellner was appointed as the first commandant of the boarding school, who shaped its patterns of activity.
The boarding school is adjacent to the Reali School in Haifa and the boarding school students study there. The studies at the Reali are of a high standard, as is the discipline and military content at the boarding school itself. This is why there is a high demand for admission to the military boarding school for command, and not everyone who is interested is accepted. In 1992, a decision was made in principle to transform the military boarding school in Haifa into a pre-military college, within the framework of which the boarding school graduates who chose to do so studied academic studies for a bachelor’s degree at the University of Haifa for two years, after which they were drafted into full military service in the field units. This program continued until 1997. After that, the boarding school returned to the format of regular high school studies. Starting with the 19th grade (1999–2003), girls were also educated at the boarding school. In 2007, it was decided to subordinate the military boarding schools to the Inter-Services Command and Staff College. In the second decade of the 21st century, Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot decided, as part of the Gideon Plan, to close the military boarding schools, after it was claimed that the benefits derived from them did not justify their cost.
In December 2015, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon approved a decision to stop accepting new students to the two military boarding schools, thus closing them. Alumni of the boarding schools and their associations put pressure on politicians to prevent the closure of the boarding schools. In September 2016, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced the reversal of Ya’alon’s decision,
And that the military boarding school in Haifa will remain active and will be transferred to the responsibility of the Social-Security Division of the Ministry of Defense and will be managed by civilians. The decision was made after an inspection by the Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Udi Adam. In July 2017, it was decided that the boarding school in Or Etzion will also continue its activities, under the Social-Security Division of the Ministry of Defense.
On August 30, 2017, a ceremony was held at Beit Biram to transfer the military boarding school in Haifa to the management of the Ministry of Defense. At the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the staff of the military boarding school for the Haifa command consists of civilians, reserve commanders belonging to the staff of the Reali School, which is the official operator of the boarding school on behalf of the Ministry of Defense. The commander of the boarding school is a reserve officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher.
As of 2019, the percentage of officers among graduates of military boarding schools is 78%. As of 2023, the percentage of combat officers among graduates of the boarding school in Haifa was 97% and junior command was 94%. Among the boarding school graduates are two chiefs of staff, 13 generals, 33 lieutenant generals and 114 lieutenant colonels, the head of the Mossad, two superintendents in the Israel Police and six members of the Knesset.
52 graduates of boarding schools in Haifa and Tel Aviv received 56 decorations and commendations for their work in their military service. Four were mentioned twice. Among the recipients of the decorations and commendations was Lieutenant Moshe Tal Blumenthal, who received the Medal of Valor for his fighting in Gaza during the Six-Day War. Nine graduates received the Medal of Courage, and ten graduates received the Medal of Excellence.
, and 32 graduates received medals from the level of brigade commander to the level of Chief of Staff. One graduate received the Civilian Excellence Medal. In addition, three graduates of the boarding schools were awarded the Israel Prize, and four others were awarded the Israel Defense Prize. 144 graduates of the military boarding schools in Haifa and Tel Aviv are IDF martyrs, of whom a number have an unknown burial place and another graduate is missing in action. 6 graduates of the Or Etzion military boarding school are IDF martyrs.
Over the years at the boarding school, the trainees undergo unique military training both during the year and during the holidays.
In addition, the trainees enjoy benefits such as: courses (diving, parachuting, abseiling) and leave with firearms licenses. After the attack on Line 37, in which the trainee Daniel Harosh was killed, the question of the trainees’ entitlement to a military funeral arose, and it was determined that the trainee is also entitled to it.
The Military Boarding School for Command – Tel Aviv
In 1965, a boarding school was established in Tel Aviv-Yafo in the Glilot camps, where the students studied at the “Herzliya” Hebrew Gymnasium.
The military boarding school in Tel Aviv operated until its closure in 1984, due to a decline in the potential of those enrolled in the military boarding schools for command, and over the years, 16 classes completed their education.
This boarding school was also an educational institution that trained and prepared youth to become commanders in field units in the IDF. It was headed by Lt. Col. Baruch Levy. The boarding school graduates were designated for positions as company commanders in the IDF field units and committed to permanent service of at least 3 years, even before their official enlistment into the army. For the first class, which was accepted in 1965, approximately 800 candidates registered and 80 were accepted.
Only 29 graduates graduated from the class. The vast majority of dropouts were due to insufficient success in secondary school studies and failure to advance to the higher grade. In the following classes, the situation improved. Prime Minister Golda Meir attended the graduation ceremony of the first class in July 1969.
In the Yom Kippur War, 6 graduates of the class were killed. (21% of the graduates),
All of them, like most of the graduates of the class, were part of the company commanders’ ranks in the Armored Corps and the Infantry and Paratroopers
Yoav Kutner and retired judge Shimon Sher (Farjon), Ron Arad, Gal Hirsch, Eyal Zamir. Among its graduates are Gabi Ashkenazi.
Air Force Technical
There are two schools called Air Force Technical. One in Haifa and the other in Beersheba. In addition, there is the Air Force Holtz in Tel Aviv, which is not called technical but teaches the same subjects and has a framework that is quite similar to the Air Force Technical. These three schools, as well as the trainee classes, have admission requirements, mainly in the real field.
Amal “Holtz” Aviation High School and College specializes in education and training for all aviation professions – unique in Israel in the fields of machinery, control and energy, electronics and computers. The school’s students from grades 9 to 12, who come from all over the country, are highly motivated to study aviation and serve in the technical division of the Air Force.
Due to the close cooperation with the Air Force and knowledge-intensive industries in Israel, the school has some of the most advanced and unique aviation-related educational equipment in the world.
Graduates of the school are considered to be highly qualified technological personnel who fill key positions in the Air Force. And constitutes a technological asset necessary for the functioning of the Air Force’s technical system so that the soldier can meet his goals. In addition, graduates of the school occupy senior positions in the world of civil aviation in Israel and abroad. The recruitment of school graduates to the IDF and the Air Force in particular is 100%!
The school has about 12 aircraft (planes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles). The school also has workshops for studying unique and high-quality aviation subjects, some of the most advanced, including aircraft engines (fighter jets and passenger jets).
Due to the importance of the school to the Israeli Air Force and the aviation industries in the country, valuable equipment is transferred for the benefit of education and teaching aviation subjects to students (aircraft, engines and tools from the Air Force and civilian companies such as El Al, Aeronautics, Aviation Industry, etc.).
The school was established in 1954 when the heads of state and the Ministry of Defense at the time saw great importance in establishing the Israeli Air Force, a significant force in the establishment of the IDF, and since then, the school has maintained a close connection with the Air Force.
It is important to note that throughout the years of the school’s existence, students have been accepted from over 50 different local authorities, which cooperate and welcome their students in their own unique and difficult path, which they have chosen of their own free will.
All student recruitment activities come from “friend brings friend” and family members for generations, many students at the school are siblings of… sons and daughters of… (A third of the school’s students are girls) Approximately 30% of the school’s teaching staff are graduates of the school, a unique phenomenon that turns the school into an educational institution that is a kind of family.
The Amal Holtz Air Force Multidisciplinary School has undergone a significant transformation, and the students’ eligibility for matriculation has increased to 91%. It should be noted that the school is a model for advanced technological education, to which delegations of educators from Israel and abroad come on a regular basis.
The school operates in full cooperation with the Air Force.
The school’s students, Air Force veterans, wear soldier uniforms, have a veteran certificate, and are a role model for students and education.
Tzur Yam High School, Technical School – Navy Tzur Yam School in Haifa is one of three schools in the Tzur chain. The school in Haifa was established as a joint initiative of Steph Wertheimer and the Navy. Students receive professional training in technological subjects of the Navy – marine electricity and marine mechanics. In addition, they acquire a civilian profession – certified electrician, CNC technician and industrial machine maintainer.
Studies at the school begin in the 10th grade.
Shapira Center
The military boarding school “Or Etzion” combines spirit and strength and cultivates command qualities alongside a life of Torah and secular life. The boarding school’s students benefit from a valuable and educational springboard, preparing them to integrate into the army as officers in combat units. The values that the boarding school strives to instill in its students are: responsibility, excellence, kindness, commitment to mission, and reliability. The boarding school was created in the early 1980s at the “Or Etzion” Yeshiva. It was established by Lt. Col. Pinchas Naaman, who was its first commander.
In 2019, the boarding school moved to operate under the Ministry of Defense, and its commander is Lt. Col. (res.) Doron Hillel, a graduate of the boarding school.
In the training track, the trainees of the military boarding school, who are on duty for command, train and undergo content in the field of physical fitness, field patrol content, and navigation.
The trainees study in a unique major, the “Military Major” – in which they learn the main principles of military command and leadership, the battles of the Land of Israel, and military history. As enrichment, the trainees undergo several physical fitness training sessions during the week, as well as holding debate workshops, a diving course, and a military training course.
Mevot Yam is a youth village with a military character of the Navy, meaning there is sailing, uniforms, and a quasi-military character, but the trainees are not sailors (unlike the Ashdod Naval Academy and Acre Naval Officers). Naturally, a large part of the majors are technological and related to the Navy – mechanics and electronics, but also sailing and a theoretical major related to the sea
ORT Ashdod is a military boarding school affiliated with the Navy where students study technological and academic subjects. The subject of sailing is naturally very developed.
The Technological College (Boarding School) of the Armed Forces
The story of the Technological College and its previous name was the Boarding School of the Armed Forces. The boarding school trained thousands of professionals to receive a matriculation certificate and even an engineering technician degree and served as a warm home for thousands of soldiers, conscripts and officers. From all walks of life. The boarding school and high school were closed in 2006 With the move to the city of Bahdim and the evacuation of the Tzirifin camp.
The story of the establishment of the military boarding school in the Armaments Corps – With a vision to improve the army and raise the quality of those serving in the corps, Chief Armaments Officer Amos Horev initiated a training program for young men who dropped out of the education system before reaching their draft age. The program participants were called “armaments enthusiasts,” And they studied at the boarding school (later the “pre-military”) which was established in 1958 and its first commander was Captain Hari Abramov, who had previously commanded the auto mechanic course. In the first year of its establishment, the boarding school had about 60 students, and within three years the number of students had increased to more than 200. In 1992, the IDF Technological College was established. Until then, the IDF’s vocational training system was based on the technical boarding school, which awarded its graduates a certificate of completion and training for automotive professions only.
the Armed Forces Boarding School in Tzirifin is a high school/technological college where students from grades 9 to 14 study under boarding conditions.] Twelve-year graduates can stay to study for a technician and engineering degree in grades 13 and 14 with a subsidy from the Armed Forces
ICT Corps graduates
The graduates study in an excellence track and expand the electronics major at the 10-credit level. Upon completion of their studies, the graduates are entitled to a technological and quality matriculation certificate, which is a leap forward to the gates of academia.
All graduates of the track undergo training in the ICT Corps’ technological system in all its aspects.
Upon completion of the 12th grade exams, an additional option will be given: Technological Reserve Studies (13th – 14th) in the Electronics Engineering track, with 80% of the tuition funded at a selection of colleges operating in collaboration with the Corps. Graduates of the Technological Reserve Track are eligible for an Electronics Engineering Diploma from the Ministry of Education,
Which allows them to be selected for elite courses in the army. In addition, the possibility of being selected for the academic reserve is also given to those who qualify. The possibility of being selected for command and training tracks and receiving the opportunity to serve in the ICT Corps as commanders and instructors with the ability to influence various populations in the corps (recruits, soldiers, permanent personnel, recruits and reservists) is given.