Lt. Col. (res.) Hisham Abu Raya is a trailblazer. In 2008, at age 24, he became the first non-Bedouin Muslim officer in the Israeli army. Today, at age 40, he aims to be a role model for youths in his community and prove that service of the country is the key to success in Israeli society.
While military service in Israel is compulsory for Jewish young men and women, and for young men from the Druze and Circassian minorities, it is optional for all other communities. Hundreds of Bedouin enlist voluntarily each year, but other Arab Israelis — Muslim and Christian — have historically shunned the army, primarily out of solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
“Up until 10 years ago, you could count the number of non-Bedouin Muslim recruits in the IDF on the fingers of one hand,” Abu Raya said in a recent phone interview with The Times of Israel from his hometown of Sakhnin, in northern Israel. But today, he claims his personal story, while still exceptional, is no longer unique.
Abu Raya was discharged from the army with the rank of major in 2018, and was promoted to reserve lieutenant colonel in 2022. Today, he works as a liaison between the Home Front Command and the northern Bedouin municipality of Tuba al-Zangariya.
Immediately after his discharge in 2018, he founded “Ma’an” (meaning “together” in Arabic), a project to strengthen ties between the State of Israel and young Arab citizens and reinforce their sense of belonging.
Within that framework, he launched a project that now runs in 20 schools in Muslim areas on behalf of the Defense Ministry to improve the students’ knowledge of Israeli history and civics and promote recruitment into the IDF.
“Some young Arabs I meet don’t even know who [assassinated prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin was,” he said. “Even if I don’t manage to convince them to enlist, at least at the end of the program they know more about Israeli society.”
The program also runs in Arab Christian schools, where organizers encounter “more openness,” Abu Raya said. And while not all schools in Muslim areas decide to participate in the course, things are beginning to change in his community too, he claims. Some pupils he meets show up to the course after having watched countless hours of combat videos on the IDF website and YouTube, and know exactly where they want to serve, he said.
According to the reserve officer, many aim to join combat units, including the legendary Golani Brigade. Many are also interested in joining the Border Police or the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, once a Bedouin-only unit that today accommodates other minorities.
In June 2022, Abu Raya was involved in the organization of the first Gadna, a one-week preparatory program for incoming recruits, for Muslim youth.
Abu Raya estimated today that there are “a few hundred” soldiers from the community enlisted in the IDF, adding that the ranks are growing. The IDF could not provide The Times of Israel with exact figures.
“If you want to advance in Israeli society and feel equal, army service is your entry ticket. That’s how it was for me. The army embraced me,” Abu Raya said. “All the Arabs I know who went to the army — today own a house and have a steady job. They have gone ahead in life.”
Financial stability, however, is not the only reason Arab young men should serve their country, in Abu Raya’s opinion.
“We have a huge problem with gang crime in Arab society. Conscription in the IDF, or service in any other way, whether in the police, Magen David Adom, or national service, can help our young people become good citizens.”
Crime in the Arab community has skyrocketed in recent years, with more Arabs killed in homicides in 2023 than in any previous year, amid an unprecedented proliferation of illegal firearms.
Abu Raya claims that interest in enlistment among his target community has been on the rise for years, but has spiked after the October 7 massacre by Hamas, in which invading terrorists killed 1,200 people amid acts of brutality and took 251 hostages to Gaza.
“On October 7, the penny dropped among Arab Israelis. They saw that Hamas opened fire on everyone, and did not distinguish between Jewish and Muslim citizens,” Abu Raya said. “And there are still Muslim hostages in the hands of Hamas. It was the same during the 2006 Second Lebanon War — nearly half of the civilian victims in Israel were Arabs. Rockets don’t distinguish between Moshe and Ali.”
In the 2006 war, 18 out of the 43 civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets were Arabs.
Abu Raya related anecdotal evidence that led him to the conclusion that October 7 generated a seismic change.
“A father from Kafr Qara called me after October 7 saying he was appalled by what he saw happening near Gaza, and said he wanted his three sons to be conscripted. He vowed he would soon take them to an induction center in a Bedouin area.”
Speaking about their intentions openly in their communities, however, remains taboo. Opposition to the IDF remains entrenched in Arab society, especially among Muslims, and those who show up in their towns in a uniform are often marked as traitors, Abu Raya said. But he is adamant that below the surface, change is palpable.
Anan, an 18-year-old Israeli Muslim Arab, recently swore the oath on the Qur’an to serve in the IDF and protect Israel and its citizens.@YosephHaddad pic.twitter.com/yz4y0dvpT6
— Yonatan Gonen (@GonenYonatan) June 30, 2024
The reserve officer himself had to suffer the painful consequences of his career choice on his personal life.
Aby Raya’s decision to enlist came at age 23, while he was pursuing a bachelors degree in Hebrew at Ben-Gurion University in the southern city of Beersheba. On the occasion of Israel’s Independence Day in 2006, the IDF organized an enlistment fair in the nearby Bedouin town of Rahat.
Abu Raya attended the event with some Jewish friends from university, who had finished their compulsory military service and were familiar with the contents of the exhibit. He felt left out for having missed on what he saw as a formative experience and decided to bridge the gap with his peers.
The decision, however, was a fraught one. In the weeks leading up to his enlistment, Abu Raya said his stomach was churning with anxiety, as he expected a strong backlash from his religious, conservative family and his community back home in Sakhnin, an area that he describes as fiercely supportive of Palestinian nationalism.
On the day of his conscription, he was a bundle of nerves as he walked into the induction center. He went in and out six or seven times in hesitation, catching the eye of a security officer, who called the police on him.
Eventually, after he explained his circumstances, army officers decided that his profile made him suitable to join the Education and Youth Corps. After his basic training, he was put in charge of a group of Bedouin recruits.
His commander took note of his skills, and a few months later encouraged him to take an officer’s course. He became the first-ever Muslim non-Bedouin in the IDF to take the step.
During the course, he was put in charge of Bental, a military company made up exclusively of religious Jews. On his first day, his self-introduction as “Hisham from Sakhnin” caused a commotion among his recruits, followed by a myriad of questions. But over time, a bond was created among comrades.
“I soon find myself inside a new family that I never imagined I would have,” he recalled.
Meanwhile, Abu Raya’s real family in the north was still in the dark about the new phase in his life, and believed he was still a student at Ben-Gurion University. He would return at home on weekends in civilian clothes, leaving his uniform with a Jewish comrade who would take it to his mother for washing and ironing.
At the end of the officers’ course, a ceremony was held to honor the new officers, and Abu Raya proudly took on his new rank. During the event, he was approached by someone holding a camera asking for a short interview. He agreed, believing he was shooting a commemorative video for his unit.
Little did he know that the cameraman was filming a live report for Channel 10, and as coincidence would have it, his family was sitting at home watching the news and saw him on screen, in an army uniform.
The following weekend, Abu Raya returned home as usual, holding his university textbooks under his arm. But his family did not greet him with its usual warm welcome. His father received him with a grave face “that I will never forget,” called him a traitor, and chastised him for bringing dishonor upon the family.
His parents and siblings severed all contact with him for nearly three years. It was a time filled with sorrow, but not regret.
“It’s hard to lose your family, to not be able to say good morning to your mother every day, hug your father, sit with your brothers,” Abu Raya recalled.
“I knew how my father felt, but on the other hand, I kept asking myself, what did I do wrong? I had nothing to be ashamed of. I did not steal, rob or rape. I did not fail at anything. I became an officer, which should be a source of honor for the family,” he continued.
Thanks to the intercession of a sister who also lived in Beersheba, Abu Raya eventually managed to mend ties with his parents and persuade them that he was pursuing a career like any other. When he was promoted to major, his father even came to the ceremony.
“I finally felt that I made him proud,” Abu Raya said. Sadly, his father died a week after the promotion, and his mother shortly after.
Conflicts with his community, meanwhile, were far from over. In 2010, Abu Raya was again interviewed for a TV report and went on air to encourage young Arab Israelis to join the Israeli security forces and contribute to their country. The report was picked up by an Arabic-language news outlet, and within hours, Abu Raya received dozens of threats.
“I was repeatedly insulted on the street and more. Unfortunately, some of the threats materialized. I got stones thrown at my property, and for a while could only move around with a police escort. It’s not a nice feeling,” he said.
“Someone once threw a glass bottle inside my car and hit my oldest son on the head, because I had an Israeli flag on my rearview mirror,” Abu Raya recounted. “But the perpetrators were arrested and sentenced, and justice was done.”
The verbal and physical violence did not deter him. He still lives in Sakhnin. He worked in the Education Corps and later in the Home Front Command.
“I had a choice to move to Karmiel” — a nearby Jewish town — “or stay in my village, go against the stream, fight and serve as an example for all the young people here,” he said. “And I chose the latter. I know the IDF is on my side. It has never abandoned me.”
