‘Israel is our homeland’: Children of foreign workers petition to enlist in IDF

Children of foreign workers in Israel have petitioned the Supreme Court, demanding the right to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, an option currently denied to them, arguing there is no legal basis to treat them differently from other IDF candidates.

Nineteen-year-old Moliv Vicente is one of the 42 migrant children who grew up in Israel and wants to serve in the military. He grew up speaking Hebrew and passed the national matriculation exams, later joined the Israeli Scouts movement and completed a year of national service.

Vicente said he recently listened as friends shared their military experiences. “I was just asking questions and listening,” he said.

Like many children of migrant workers, Vicente sees himself as Israeli, making military service a meaningful part of his identity. “The service year gave me even more motivation,” he explained. “But I wanted to enlist even before that.”

Despite feeling like an Israeli, Vicente became aware of his fragile legal status in 2017 when Yisraela G’mira, an 11-year-old Israel-born migrant child, was deported with her family. Later, he was prevented from joining his soccer team on an international training trip due to his legal status as a child of migrants, as it would have prevented him from returning to Israel.

“That was when I understood how much this limits me,” Vicente recalled. “I cried to the coach, but there was nothing to do.”

Raine Arfon, another child of migrants in Israel, grew up in the rural community of Mishmar Hashiva and studied in Rishon LeZion, near Tel Aviv. She has experienced friendships from school fade away as her Israeli friends join the IDF. Like Vincente, Arfon is also determined to join the Israeli military.

Mariel Ayeh Ai graduated from the prestigious Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv and went on to begin university studies, but as a non-citizen, she was required to pay higher tuition fees.

Like Vicente, Ayeh Ai became acutely aware of her legal status in 2019, when other migrant families were detained. “Until sixth grade, everything was fine,” she recalled. “After that summer, I realized it could happen to me, too.” She has since pursued her right to enlist.

The status of migrants and their children is a sensitive issue in Israel. In November 2024, 122 high school children with a migrant background called on Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to resolve their status as Israelis.

“Israel is our homeland, where we have lived all our lives and from which we have never left,” the students wrote in a joint letter.

Children of migrants view the right to serve in the IDF as a path towards becoming fully recognized as Israeli citizens.

Sgt.-Maj. Cedrick Garin, a reserve soldier who was killed fighting in Gaza in January 2024, was the son of foreign workers from the Philippines and became an Israeli citizen after finishing his regular army service.

After Cedrick was killed, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel announced that he would “do everything” to see that Cedrick’s parents received citizenship as well as an expression of gratitude for his sacrifice. 

“There are no words to describe his bravery and dedication to the country. The entire State of Israel embraces and strengthens you in your difficult time,” Arbel told the parents at the time.