When can Israelis who left Israel when young return to Israel without being drafted in the army? [closed]

If one is born in Israel but leave at a young age, when can they return to Israel without being drafted, if they cannot obtain a exemption from the army ?

Ok. Lets start off by assuming that the person in question has the status of an israeli. If not, for example if he was born to tourists or foreign students, then he shouldn't have any problem at all, just like anyone else.

That said and done, the law is that if an israeli left the country for long term, under the age of ten, he now has the status of a 'ben mehagrim'. i.e. an israely citizen that lives abroad. That being the case, he does not need to travel to israel in order to conscript, (unlike a regular israely who moved away at a much older age.) Someone with the status of a 'ben mehagrim' has to go to the lishkat hegeyus (recruiting office) the next time he is in israel, and declair his status with the army. Once that has been done, he may now enter and leave the country as much as he wants for three years. The three years start the moment that he is in the country for three consecutive months. He may keep on delaying the start of the three years by making sure never to be in the country for more than three months at a time.

Once the three years are over, he now has two options.

1) To become a fully fledged israeli, known as a 'ktin chozer' and conscript to the army, (unless he is in yeshiva and will therefore get a dichui, which means he may not leave the country for more than two weeks a year, (permission is sometimes granted to leave for longer. Please note this law is due to change on the 1st August - Tomorrow!))

2) He has to leave the country and may only enter for three full months per calendar year, i.e. 1st Jan till 31st Dec. The only option of entering the country for longer and obtaining a fully fledged ptur, is by having kids, or being over the age of 40. They are very often lenient on this rule and provide exemptions to younger people or those with less kids, however advice should be obtained by someone in the know, before trying.

The laws are complicated and extensive and some minor details can make a big difference. So don't rely 100% on this, but it is the basic structure of the current law.

Hi there, I forgot to mention in the answer above that one does not NEED to actually go to the recruiting office to confirm his status with them. It may be done by sending off a form. However using this method will only grant you one years stay, and to recieve the next two years one must go in to the office.

If you are interested, leave a reply (after you have voted both these answers of course) and I will inform you of how to get hold of this form. Good luck again.