VINTAGE ISRAELI POSTER GADN”A (Hebrew Youth Battalions)

“The Gadna Calls: – Arise Ye, and Let Us Ascent!” – Poster Designed by Menachem Chalif – 1949

“The Gadna Calls: – Arise Ye, and Let Us Ascent!”, poster designed by Menachem Chalif (signed in the plate “M. Chalif”). Published by the governmental printer. [1949]. Hebrew.

Lithographic color poster, designed by Menachem Chalif, reading: “The Gadna Calls: – Arise Ye, and Let Us Ascent!”, over soldiers marching on bare hills, in a row extending to the horizon; two soldiers in the foreground are driving a flag, reading “Gedudei HaNo’ar” (Youth Battalions) and featuring the Gadna emblem, into the ground.

Gadna (Hebrew: גדנ״ע) is an Israeli military program that prepares young people for military service in the Israel Defense Forces. It was established before the foundation of the State of Israel and was anchored in law in 1949. Today it is a one-week program of discipline and military training usually under commanders serving with the Nahal infantry brigade. Gadna hosts an estimated 19,000 Israeli youth annually, as well as numerous foreign youths.^[1]