The Israel Defense Forces Emblem is the primary symbol representing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The IDF emblem was adopted when the IDF was first established in 1948.^[1][2] It was designed by Otte Wallish and Arieh El-Hanani, with El-Hanani's sword and branch design forming the basis from which Wallish worked to create the modern design.^[3]

The center of the emblem contains a sword wrapped in an olive branch inside a Star of David, with a banner containing the words Israel Defense Forces underneath. The olive branch wrapped sword was the symbol of the Haganah, a pre-statehood paramilitary force and the IDF's primary predecessor organization. The sword in the emblem symbolizes combat, while the olive branch symbolizes the yearning for peace. The Star of David is a symbol of the Jewish tradition, and represents the Jewish people and their history.^[4] Many of these elements reappear in other IDF symbols.^[5]

In 1993, the IDF itself was renamed in its original Hebrew so that the grammar was more correct by adding the prefix "ha-" (ה, meaning "the") to the second word so that "Tzva Haganah leYisrael" became "Tzva Hahaganah leYisrael." It was not until 2022 that the IDF updated its emblem to acknowledge this change.^[2][6]

• Israel Defense Forces insignia