Over 50,000 Israeli soldiers hold foreign citizenship: Report

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) - More than 50,000 Israeli military personnel hold at least one additional foreign nationality, according to figures published Saturday by daily Yedioth Ahronoth based on official army data.

The newspaper said the information was released in response to a freedom of information request filed by the transparency advocacy group Hatzlacha.

Army data show that 50,632 soldiers have foreign citizenship alongside Israeli nationality. Of those, 12,135 hold US citizenship, the largest share by a significant margin, followed by 6,127 with French nationality and just over 5,000 with Russian citizenship.

The figures also include more than 3,000 soldiers holding German nationality and a similar number with Ukrainian citizenship. Over 1,000 troops apiece hold British, Romanian, Polish, Ethiopian, and Canadian citizenship, while the remainder are distributed among other countries.

According to the disclosure, 4,440 soldiers hold two foreign citizenships in addition to Israeli nationality, and 162 hold three foreign nationalities.

The report noted that the request was submitted nearly a year ago, in March 2025, marking what it described as the first detailed public breakdown of foreign citizenships among Israeli military personnel. The army did not clarify whether the data cover active-duty troops, reservists, or both.

Israeli media estimates put the number of active-duty soldiers at roughly 170,000, with some 400,000-460,000 registered reservists.

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref in Istanbul