Over 12,000 Foreign Volunteers Have Come to IDF in Non-Combat Positions Since October 7

Speaking to Danish media outlet DR, IDF volunteering organization Sar-El said that it has seen a relative surge in interest among foreign citizens to volunteer to help the IDF in non-combat positions, which helps to free up soldiers to focus on the war.

Per Sar-El director Keren Dahan in conversation with DR, about 4,000 to 5,000 foreign volunteers sign up with Sar-El to help the IDF every year, but that number has shot up to 12,000 since the war began. These include volunteers from "virtually all over the world," including South America and even countries generally neutral or critical towards Israel - such as the Scandinavian companies.

According to its website, Sar-El was established in 1983 when the mass callup of reservists threatened to leave agricultural lands neglected and crops ruined. Former IDF Paratroop and Infantry Commander Dr. Aharon Davidi then founded Sar-El as an umbrella framework for foreign volunteers interested in filling in the gaps and helping lighten the load of non-combat work for IDF soldiers in wartime.

Per the site, volunteers receive an official uniform and are expected to serve on IDF bases, follow military schedules, and do things like prepare packages and equipment or engage in other kinds of necessary non-combat roles to relieve soldiers from being tied down to such missions. Some 160,000 such volunteers have provided broad logistical support for the IDF from 1983 to 2018.