Israel Defense Forces Ranks - History

History

When the IDF was created in 1948, there were 7 enlisted and NCO ranks, and 8 officer ranks. The ranks were as follows:

IDF Ranks and their insignia were initially influenced by the British / Commonwealth model. This was due to the average Israeli servicemen's experience in the Commonwealth forces during World War Two. This was later reformed when the IDF started to adopt a rank system similar to the United States armed forces in the 1990s.

Rank insignia were originally cut from cloth or embroidered onto cloth patches. Bronze-metal officer's rank insignia worn on a red cloth backing were introduced for the Army in 1949. Enlisted stripes for all arms were originally individual white half-chevrons with space between them. In an economy move, Senior NCOs were distinguished by using the same bronze insignia (an oak leaf or oak leaf in a wreath) as senior officers pinned to their sleeve insignia. The Navy adopted golden-yellow half-chevrons in 1951 and the Air Force adopted blue half chevrons in ?.

A Samal Rishon was equal to a British Army Staff Sergeant / Colour Sergeant or a US Army Technical Sergeant (Sergeant First Class) / Platoon Sergeant. For the other services, the bronze-metal oak-leaf on the Army's Samal Rishon rank insignia was replaced with a yellow anchor in a white hexagon for the Navy and a blue Star of David on a white circle for the Air Force. This was later replaced in 1951 with a gold-metal oak leaf for the Navy and a silver-metal oak leaf for the Air Force.

A Samal Bakhír (1948-1951) was equivalent to a US Army First Sergeant. The rank insignia was a small bronze oak leaf in a wreath on 3 white half-chevrons for the Army, a yellow anchor in a yellow-bordered (1948) or solid-yellow (1950) hexagon on 3 white half-chevrons for the Navy, and a blue Star of David in a blue-bordered circle on 3 white half-chevrons for the Air Force. It was replaced by the new Rav Samal Yehidati rank by 1952.

A Rav Samal Yehidati (1951-1967) was equivalent to a British Army Warrant Officer II (Company Sergeant Major). The rank insignia was an Oak Leaf in a Laurel Wreath. It came in bronze-metal on a red enamel backing for the Army, gold-metal for the Navy, and silver-metal for the Air Force. It was worn on the lower right sleeve of the shirt or jacket or on a leather wrist strap when wearing short-sleeve order. It was renamed Rav Samal in 1968.

A Rav Samal (1948-1951) was equivalent to a US Army Master Sergeant or Sergeant Major. The rank insignia was originally an oak leaf in a laurel wreath for the Army, a large yellow anchor in a yellow-bordered (1948) or solid-yellow (1950) hexagon for the Navy, and a large blue Star of David in a bordered circle for the Air Force. The rank was renamed Rav Samal Rishon (1951–Present) and was equivalent to a British Army Warrant Officer I (Regimental Sergeant Major). The new rank also received new insignia made of metal: an Oak Leaf over a vertical Sword in a Laurel Wreath. It came in bronze-metal on a red enamel backing for the Army, gold-metal for the Navy, and silver-metal for the Air Force. It was worn on the lower right sleeve of the shirt or jacket or on a leather wrist strap when wearing short-sleeve order.