Strained by the knock-on effects of two years of war, Israel’s military says it is grappling with a severe manpower shortage and facing a deficit of over 10,000 soldiers, a majority of whom are needed for combat duty.

Yet while public and media attention has largely focused on those who refuse to serve, far less notice has been paid to another group: young people who want to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, but are turned away.

Among them are teens like Reign Arpon, who was born and raised in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva in central Israel.

“I want to give back to the country — especially in today’s situation with the war,” the 19-year-old told The Times of Israel recently.

But Arpon, whose parents came to Israel from the Philippines on now-expired work visas, is barred from doing so by IDF rules that reject conscripts who live here permanently but lack legal residency.

For years, these young men and women have pushed for the right to serve in the military. Despite having been born and raised in Israel, educated in Israeli schools, and deeply rooted in Israeli society, many of these young adults are routinely denied the opportunity to join their peers in enlisting to defend the country they consider home.

“I want to contribute. I feel like I deserve to contribute — that I have to,” said Prince Justice, 18, who was born and raised in Tel Aviv but has not been permitted to enlist because his mother came to Israel from the Ivory Coast on a work visa that eventually expired.

Now, a legal effort is underway to change that reality. Last month, leading Israeli immigration law firm Zari Hazan & Co. filed a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding that children of foreign workers living here without legal status be eligible to be drafted for regular military service and arguing that the law is on their side.

“When these kids finish school, and all their Israeli friends enlist, they find themselves both invisible and unable to repay the country that invested in them so much,” Meytal Lupoliansky, a partner at the firm, told The Times of Israel.

“They started coming to us and asking what could be done, one after another,” she said, prompting the firm to help organize the group of about 50 and file the petition on their behalf.

Now, they anxiously await the High Court’s response, which is expected to come next month.

At the heart of the petition is a simple claim: under Israeli law, they should already be in uniform as permanent residents of Israel, regardless of legal status.

Born to migrants who entered Israel legally for work but later overstayed their visas or had their work permits revoked, often due to becoming pregnant, the children, along with their parents, are technically here illegally.

According to the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, as of the end of 2023 there were thought to be some 25,000 foreign workers living in Israel without permits, including many with children born and educated here.

Though subject to detention and deportation, most unpermitted migrants and their children nonetheless build lives in Israel, and are given access to the Israeli education system despite their legal status being in limbo.

While the fathers are usually........

© The Times of Israel