Inside the Nativ program training IDF soldiers to join the tribe

The IDF's Nativ program trains soldiers who lack halachic Jewish status—including diaspora volunteers like Bella, a Jewish American who enlisted after experiencing campus antisemitism following October 7, and Talli, a half-Danish resident of Gedera—through a six-week course covering Torah, Jewish law, and history, culminating in conversion through a rabbinical court; approximately 4,000 such soldiers join the army annually, with 2,300 entering Nativ and 47% completing conversion. The program, established in 2000, has facilitated conversions for nearly 20,000 soldiers to date and addresses the growing gap between self-identified Jews and those recognized as Jewish by matrilineal descent, particularly among diaspora immigrants and children of intermarriage.