Is joining the French Foreign Legion or the IDF through their Mahal program a good plan?
I recently tried joining the British army but failed to get in due to eyesight requirements. However, I had LASEK eye surgery to correct my visual acuity to around 20/20 and then tried to reapply. However, the army still wanted nothing to do with me because of my original visual acuity which was 1 diopter over the limit. I had my heart set on the army as I can think of nothing worse than sitting behind a desk for a job. After doing research, i found two options that were suitable to me: the French Foreign Legion (FFL) and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Mahal program which I am suitable for due to me being Jewish. The FFL has a commitment of 5 years, whereas the IDF is 18 months with option to stay longer. I was wondering what people’s thoughts on these two options were. Don’t get me wrong, I am British first and foremost, and I love my country and would have been proud to serve it, and I also have no idealogical reasons for wanting to join the FFL or IDF other than the training, discipline and adventure that they offer. So it seems that fate has led me to these two options, and i would very much appreciate any feedback about these two forces, or any other ideas which could be of help to me. Serious answers only please and nothing idealogical to do with the Israeli- Palestinian conflict as I have already stated that I would only consider it as a path to adventure and military discipline and training, thank you.
HDH posted: 07 Mar at 5:17 am
I would probably join the IDF under those circumstances. But it’s a choice YOU have to make. There’s a lot of books and websites written by people who joined the IDF.
I don’t know about many by people who joined the FFL. It might be more useful though, since they actually have a pension system and some benefits. IDF soldiers are mostly conscripts so they don’t get very many goodies. Plus, French is probably a more useful spoken language to pick up than Hebrew.
Good luck, either way. You are committed to getting some adventure by the sound of it. Go forth and do it.
Hero of Bosnia posted: 07 Mar at 5:17 am
IDF are scum
candy g posted: 07 Mar at 5:17 am
FFL is really hard training so that would really be covered…….how good is your french lol lol
Know 2 brits that joined the FFL, mainly for adventure and they seemed to enjoy it.
Are the eyesight issues the same for each branch or have you just tried the Army ?? what about the marines for instance.