IDF Autism program

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Each day, Sgt. I. scours the internet to find elusive intelligence that could help Israel fight its enemies.

He is a web specialist for an elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces, focused on open-source research that informs high-level decision-making and can even reach the prime minister's desk.

He is also autistic.

Sgt. I., like some 150 others, isn't in the IDF by chance. He signed up to serve through Ro'im Rachok, a first-of-its-kind program that places autistic people in the military to utilize their valuable skills.

Speaking to Insider from inside HaKirya, the sprawling headquarters of the IDF, he said he was able to cope with long, exhausting intelligence work better than many others and that he was most productive when given to-do lists.

He couldn't elaborate on the specifics of what he does. The IDF and Ro'im Rachok members spoke on the condition that Insider use initials or only their first names, citing the secrecy of their work.

A typical IDF open-source project might involve trawling social media and obscure sites for intel on everything from the effect of sanctions on the Iranian economy to the size of Hezbollah's arsenal.

An IDF minder sat in the meeting room throughout, ready to intervene if Sgt. I. accidentally divulged anything classified.

On occasion, Sgt. I. said, his daily work routine is interrupted by "stimming" — a behavior often associated with autism that can involve repeating words, sounds, or movements to cope with stress.

He'd always been taught in special-education settings, so he wasn't self-conscious about doing this before he joined the IDF and started working in an office alongside neurotypical soldiers. "So, yes, I've had to adapt," he said.

Sgt. I. is a graduate of Ro'im Rachok — an innovative Israeli program founded in 2013 to match young adults on the autism spectrum with military professions that need manpower.

Unlike most Jewish Israelis who are conscripted to join the army, usually at 18, many autistic teenagers are exempt.

Ro'im Rachok, however, allows them to sign up as volunteers.

Speaking to Insider from his office at the Ono Academic College in Kiryat Ono, Tal Vardi, a Mossad veteran who helped found the program, said he wanted to make something clear: It's not an act of charity.

Autistic volunteers are assigned to units where they are deemed to have a comparative advantage — usually military intelligence.

In return for volunteering, recruits with autism are offered the skills and connections that could help ease them into an independent future working in civilian professions.

Military divisions in the UK, the US, and Singapore, as well as civilian industries in Israel, have shown interest in developing the model, he added.

So far, more than 300 soldiers have been recruited from the program to the IDF and serve across 27 different units.

The first unit to recruit from the program was the classified Unit 9900 — a prestigious visual-intelligence outfit.

An IDF spokesperson told Insider that the unit played a part in Operation Breaking Dawn — the Israeli name for the Gaza-Israel clashes in August 2022.

The IDF spokesperson said Unit 9900 "helped protect civilians" and provided operational support in the clashes. Amnesty International described the operation as unleashing "fresh trauma and destruction" on Palestinians.

Maj. R. said he noticed early on that many autistic soldiers seemed to have a natural aptitude for aerial-photo analysis.

His neurotypical soldiers easily got distracted, he said, whereas the autistic soldiers seemed able to hyperfocus on the tasks at hand.

Although Ro'im Rachok's first training course was in photo analysis, it now offers courses in data tagging, GIS mapping, and electronics.

Each course sets up students to serve in specific IDF units, but at this stage, they participate in the training courses as civilians.

There's unanimous agreement that employability plays a big part. Even though it's technically illegal for an employer to ask directly about military experience, in practice, it does matter.

"If not for the army, it would be very difficult to make a future, get a job, make rent, buy an apartment," says Natir, an 18-year-old from Holon, as his classmates nod.

It's not only the addition to her résumé that will make her more employable, she adds, but also the skills she and her classmates develop along the way. "It makes a lot of people more confident in what we're doing and more communicative in language," she says.

Ron, an 18-year-old from Givatayim, says the course has helped him work on his "short fuse" and has been vital to his personal development.

The skills and unique perspectives that autistic people can bring to the table are advantageous to the army because "we see the world in a different way," he says, "that offers creative solutions."

The training program can be challenging for students, said Cmdr. A of Unit 9900.

"At their schools or home, many of them were getting adjustments," he said. "Here, we're not making it easier for them. I can't change the whole army, so I need to face it with them."

This could involve bracing them for situations they haven't encountered before, from teaching would-be recruits how to navigate public transportation to preparing them for possible interrogation by enemy forces.

Students in the program work with therapists to help them understand and embrace their autism. Some students were diagnosed with autism when they received a military exemption; others have known for most of their life.

Roughly 10% of students in each course don't graduate. But the vast majority go on to take part in a four-month-trial period with the IDF before being formally recruited.

Usually, for conscripted soldiers, men are expected to serve for a minimum of 32 months, and women are expected to serve for at least 24 months. But because Ro'im Rachok enlistees are volunteers, they can drop out after a year.