Military manpower - military age and obligation:
17 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) and voluntary
(Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes are
eligible for military service; conscript service obligation - 36
months for men, 21 months for women (2004)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 1,581,883
females age 15-49: 1,532,234 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 1,294,742
females age 15-49: 1,250,969 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 51,054
females: 53,515 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$9.11 billion (FY03)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
8.7% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Israel
Disputes - international:
West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status
subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent
status to be determined through further negotiation; Golan Heights
is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan
Heights)
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 276,000 (Arab villagers displaced from homes in northern
Israel) (2004)
Illicit drugs:
increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse; drugs arrive
in country from Lebanon and, increasingly, from Jordan;
money-laundering center