IDF ends testicular examinations for new recruits

The Israeli military on Thursday said it would end a decades-old practice of testicular examinations for male recruits, as part of a larger overhaul of its medical screening process for young civilians ahead of their draft to the army.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, it was decided to cancel the testicular examination after it emerged that out of more than 150,000 tests, only four cases affected the determination of the soldier’s medical profile.

The examination is normally done during a pre-draft assessment at the IDF’s induction centers, known in Hebrew as a Tzav Rishon.

The IDF said that the examination had originated from the British mandate period, and following staff work conducted in the past year, it was found to not have “sufficient medical justification” and also created “unnecessary pressure for conscripts.”

Addtionally as part of the overhaul to the medical screening process for recruits, the IDF said it would cancel foot examinations and urine tests, after it was found that they “do not make a meaningful contribution to assessing fitness for combat or identifying medical issues relevant to service.”

The military said it began the staff work to change the medical screening process following complaints and as part of preparations for larger draft cohorts.

“The goal of the move is to improve the quality of determining medical fitness, transitioning from a broad and general process to a more precise, professional, and efficient screening, while reducing workloads and improving the conscript’s experience,” the military said, adding that a committee of medical experts reviewed all the existing examinations to distinguish between tests with “real medical value and tests rooted in historical practice that do not effectively contribute to assessing fitness.”

Alongside canceling the “inefficient tests,” the IDF said it would add a new blood test for all female recruits to detect anemia.

The military said it would also be integrating artificial intelligence tools into the medical screening process, mainly to summarize medical documents to ease physicians’ work.

According to the IDF, the AI tools are expected shorten the duration of the medical examination at recruitment offices from approximately 15 minutes to under 10 minutes, and “contribute to streamlining the entire system.”

The military said the new changes would be first introduced as a pilot at the army’s main induction center at the Tel Hashomer base in central Israel, and then would be expanded to the other recruitment offices in the coming months.