List of Americans in the Israel Defense Forces
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As of February 2024, 23,380 American citizens were serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), many of them settlers in Israel, with some reservists living in the United States having been called to fight in the Gaza War.[1][2][3] This list is inclusive of American citizen lone soldiers, members of the IDF who do not have support in Israel, either because they do not have immediate family in Israel or they are estranged from their family in Israel.
United States law permits American citizens from serving in foreign militaries, and the United States Department of State has generally not pursued citizenship loss for Americans serving in allied militaries.[4]
In 2024, H.R. 8445 was introduced to the 188th United States Congress by representatives Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Max Miller (R-OH) that would amend federal law to "provide for the eligibility of United States citizens who serve in the Israeli Defense Forces for certain protections relating to such service."[5][6][7]
Lone soldiers
- Michael Levin
- Max Steinberg
- Nissim Sean Carmeli, born in Texas, died fighting in Gaza in July 2014[8][9][10]
- Edan Alexander
- Omer Neutra
- Daniel Raab, born in Naperville, Illinois, member of the Ghost Unit[11][12]
- Moshe Yitzchak HaKohen Katz, born in New Haven, Connecticut, died fighting in Lebanon in March 2026[13][14]
- Omer Balva, born in Plainview, New York, died fighting along the Israel—Lebanon border in October 2023[15][16]
- Rose Lubin, born in Atlanta, Georgia, died in Jerusalem in November 2023[17][18]
- Yonatan Dean Chaim, born in New York, died fighting in Gaza in 2023[19]
- Ari Goldberg, born in Virginia, died of suicide in Israel one day before his IDF discharge in 2026[20][21]
- Joshua Boone, born in Idaho, died in 2026[22][23]
- Mike Meyerheim, born in New Jersey, director of the Lone Soldier Center[24][9]
- Elan Ganeles, born in Connecticut, killed near Jericho in February 2023[25][26]
- Daniel Flesch, Senior Policy Analyst, Middle East and North Africa, Allison Center for National Security, The Heritage Foundation[27][28][29]
- David Meyers, tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Israeli Americans for Kamala[28][30]
Politicians
- Brian Mast, US Representative (R-FL)[31]
- Amos Hochstein, United States Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs[32]
- Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States (served in the IDF in 1979, prior to renouncing US citizenship in 2009)[33]
- Yechiel Leiter, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, current Israeli Ambassador to the United States[34]
Journalists and media
- Gil Hoffman, Israeli-American journalist and political correspondent for HonestReporting[35]
- Jeffrey Goldberg, American journalist and editor-in-chief of The Atlantic[36]
- Carrie Keller-Lynn, writer for The Wall Street Journal, former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel[37][38][39]
- Aliza Landes, American-born daughter of the historian Richard Landes, founded the IDF digital propaganda initiative, member of the IDF's Spokesperson's Unit[40][41][42]
- Talia Wissner-Levy, from Great Neck, New York, former member of the New Media Desk of the IDF's Spokesperson's Unit[43][41]