About Military Service

      The academic reserve (Computer Science students only!)
      Deferment of military service
      Placement in the army

The academic reserve (Computer Science students only!)
Computer Science students may apply for the academic reserve, no later than February of their senior year. Information on the academic reserve, registration, timetable and forms that can be downloaded are available on the IDF website, here.

Students are advised to apply as early as possible. Applications are accepted beginning in October each year. The army gives Computer Science students favorable service conditions and benefits.

Deferment of Compulsory Military Service
In accordance with an agreement with the Ministry of Defense, students who have completed 50% or more of their degree requirements (54 or more credits) by the end of 12th grade, may request deferment of compulsory military service. Students must fill out a military deferment request form and apply to the High School Student Unit of the Dean of Academic Studies office as specified on the form. The IDF will consider each request individually in accordance with the needs of the army, based on priorities determined from time to time. The request should be submitted as soon as possible, preferably immediately upon receipt of a military service recruitment date. Forms may be obtained from the High School Unit, Dean of Academic Studies, at 972-9-7781168 or downloaded here.

Placement in the army
Draftees are placed according to the needs of the army, taking into consideration various factors (desire to volunteer for a specific unit, draftee's characteristics, physical fitness, etc.) including education and professional level in those areas which are recognized and needed by the army. As a result, it is advisable to report on your studies at the Open University when you are first called up.

In addition, the Open University is happy to comply with the request of various units to contact students about to be drafted and to select from among them students who fit their needs. Letters are sent by the University directly to students, without providing the names of the students to the IDF. If you have received such a letter and are interested in what it offers, you should contact the unit directly, using the details on the letter.

Student who wish to be placed in the area in which they studied, and were not placed there in advance, should make their request to the officer in the induction center on the day they are inducted into the army. If they are placed accordingly, they will have to sign on for a year and a half of service after their compulsory service.

We hope that many students will be drafted in accordance with their academic skills, and will have an interesting military service and contribute to the IDF in their academic area.

  For the purpose of requesting a military deferment, the credits accumulated are those you have accumulated on the date of the application, as well as those for courses you are registered for in the fall and spring semesters of the final year of high school studies, but not including the following summer semester.