More than 3,000 Israelis with Ukrainian citizenship serve in the IDF, and in total – citizens of more than 120 countries

Internal data IDF, obtained upon request based on the Freedom of Information Act, shows: in March 2025, tens of thousands of people served in the army, who, in addition to Israeli, have one or more foreign passports.

The Ukrainian block stands out separately: 3,210 servicemen had Ukrainian citizenship as the only foreign passport, and another 56 had a Ukrainian passport along with other foreign citizenships. In total, this is 3,266 people.

The data was requested by NGO Atzlaha at the request of British journalists; the materials were first published by the project Declassified, and then by Israeli media (including Ynet – here is the file) on February 13, 2026, they released a full alphabetical list of countries and numbers.

What exactly did the numbers reveal

How many foreign citizenships does one serviceman have

The document divides people with foreign passports by the number of foreign citizenships (Israeli is not counted):

• 50,632 — have one foreign citizenship

• 4,440 — have two foreign citizenships

• 162 — have three foreign citizenships

In total, there are 55,234 servicemen with at least one foreign citizenship (as of March 2025).

Where is Ukraine in this list

Ukrainian numbers look noticeable against the general background, but not unique.

If you look only at the “major” positions by the number of passport holders among the servicemen, then next to Ukraine are:

• USA: 12,135 (dual) + 1,207 (multiple)

• France: 6,127 + 337

• Russia: 5,067 + 102

• Germany: 3,901 + 292

• Ukraine: 3,210 + 56

And this is an important framework: Ukrainian citizens in the Israeli army are not “exotic”, but part of a large picture of repatriation, family stories, migration, and citizenships “by origin”.

In the midst of discussing such topics, it is especially important that the reader does not lose context and the human side of the numbers — that is why for the audience of NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency the key question is not in sensation, but in understanding: how the reality of a country is arranged, where the army reflects the structure of society.

Why are there “enemy” and even non-existent countries in the list

The list includes citizenships of Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen — and even entries like “USSR” and “Yugoslavia”.

This does not mean “sympathy” or political views. Most often it reflects:

• how exactly a person is recorded in systems based on documents or previous registrations

• “inherited” citizenships that have been legally preserved for years

• heterogeneity of formulations (the document also contains “variants” of names)

• human factor and administrative “tails”

A separate line “unknown / not registered” is also present — and it is quite large. So it’s not just about politics and geography, but also about the quality of classification.

What does this mean for Israel and for people from Ukraine

The Ukrainian indicator of more than three thousand is simultaneously about war and about the diaspora, about families that have scattered around the world, and about the fact that Israel has long lived with the reality of multi-level identity.

For Israelis of Ukrainian origin, this statistic also sounds like a marker of involvement: part of the people who have “Ukraine” in their passport or in their family history serve in the army of the country where they currently live.

And for the state, this is a practical task: when a significant portion of servicemen have additional citizenship, transparent rules of accounting, security, and communication are important — without myths and without hysteria.

Supplement: all data from tables

Below is the format: Country/citizenship — dual; multiple
(“dual” = Israeli + specified foreign; “multiple” = Israeli + specified foreign + one/two more foreign).

Appendix A: countries and number of servicemen (March 2025)

Australia — 502; 119
Austria — 390; 54
Azerbaijan — 146; 3
Albania — 2; 1
Algeria — 1; 0
“America (country not specified)” — 96; 44
Angola — 2; 0
Angola (record variant) — 1; 4
Antigua and Barbuda — 1; 0
Argentina — 609; 56
Armenia — 25; 5
“Africa (not specified)” — 5; 4

Barbados — 2; 0
Bahrain — 505; 91
Belarus — 589; 16
Belize — 1; 0
Belgium — 406; 65
Bulgaria — 262; 12
Bolivia — 7; 1
Bosnia — 4; 0
“British Isles” (not specified) — 7; 4

United Kingdom — 1,686; 383
Hungary — 885; 53
Venezuela — 71; 32
Vietnam — 3; 1

Ghana — 14; 1
Guatemala — 54; 5
Gibraltar — 1; 0
Guinea — 2; 0
Germany — 3,901; 292
Hong Kong — 8; 1
Honduras — 8; 3
Greece — 149; 18
Georgia — 164; 9

Denmark — 85; 14
Dominican Republic — 3; 4
Other African countries — 1; 0
Other European countries — 1; 1

Egypt — 1; 2

Israel — (this line is not in the data; skipping to avoid distorting the list)

India — 197; 4
Indonesia — 1; 0
Jordan — 6; 0
Iraq — 5; 12
Iran — 47; 0
Ireland — 55; 20
Iceland — 1; 0
Spain — 372; 79
Italy — 828; 100
Yemen — 14; 8

Kazakhstan — 189; 3
Canada — 1,185; 339
Kenya — 5; 0
Cyprus (record variant) — 9; 7
Cyprus (variant “Cypriot”) — 309; 22
China — 5; 2
Colombia — 112; 27
Congo — 7; 0
Korea — 7; 2
Costa Rica — 27; 6
Ivory Coast — 1; 1
Kyrgyzstan — 52; 3

Latvia — 192; 10
Lebanon — 3; 1
Lithuania — 265; 30
Luxembourg — 2; 6

Mauritania — 1; 1
Malta — 2; 0
Morocco — 72; 32
Mexico — 181; 31
Moldova (record variant 1) — 240; 20
Moldova (record variant 2) — 38; 16
Monaco — 1; 0
Mongolia — 2; 0

Nepal — 2; 0
Unknown / not registered — 1,093; 28
Netherlands — 559; 86
Nigeria — 21; 0
New Zealand — 39; 11
Norway — 30; 5

United Arab Emirates — 2; 1

Panama — 35; 2
Paraguay — 13; 1
Peru — 161; 19
Poland — 1,668; 149
Portugal — 77; 25
Russia — 5,067; 102
Romania — 1,675; 85
Rwanda — 1; 0

El Salvador — 8; 0
Seychelles — 0; 1
Serbia — 10; 4
Singapore — 1; 1
Syria — 2; 1
Slovakia — 302; 16
Slovenia — 4; 3
USSR — 11; 0
USA — 12,135; 1,207

Tajikistan — 8; 0
Thailand — 65; 6
Taiwan — 3; 0
Trinidad and Tobago — 1; 0
Tunisia — 15; 7
Turkmenistan — 31; 2
Turkey — 112; 21

Uganda — 2; 0
Ukraine — 3,210; 56
Uruguay — 125; 24
Uzbekistan — 264; 5

Philippines — 105; 6
Finland — 56; 6
France — 6,127; 337

Croatia — 5; 2

Central Africa (not specified) — 2; 0

Czech Republic — 22; 3
Chile — 92; 19

Switzerland — 373; 135
Sweden — 130; 20
Sri Lanka — 2; 0

Ecuador — 27; 5
Eritrea — 1; 0
Eswatini (Swaziland) — 1; 0
Estonia — 33; 5
Ethiopia — 1,387; 29

South Africa — 415; 74
Yugoslavia — 5; 1

Japan — 65; 11

Appendix B: how many foreign citizenships one person has (excluding Israeli)

1 foreign citizenship — 50,632
2 foreign citizenships — 4,440
3 foreign citizenships — 162