IDF Websites Not Loading Abroad? How to Get a Military Service Certificate

The IDF's websites for soldiers and veterans are closed from abroad: in our check on 23 October 2026, the MY IDF personal area, the Prat portal and the certificates site didn't open from abroad, and the certificates site said "we're sorry, but the service is not currently available in your region". Through SuperStableVPN, with an Israeli IP, they opened. Below: which certificates you order there, how the login works, and what you can do without these sites.

Order your service certificate with an Israeli IP: free for 3 days, no credit card required. After that it's 17 CAD a month (about ₪36), taxes included, and only if you choose to subscribe. You'll need the free OpenVPN app: we send you a configuration file and instructions, you connect and open the IDF certificates site. There's no separate app of ours to install.

What you need from the IDF's sites abroad

According to the IDF (certificate of service, in Hebrew):

• A certificate of military service (ishur al sherut). It is asked for when you apply for a job, apply for a foreign passport, claim an arnona (municipal property tax) discount or mortgage benefits.
• Other certificates. The IDF issues certificates of courses and training, a copy of the evaluation certificate (teudat haaracha), and confirmation of a profession or a role.
• Proof that you served as a combat soldier. If you don't have your combat soldier's card, the certificates site can issue a certificate of your course of service that says so.

How the login works

The certificates site belongs to the IDF's Personnel Directorate. According to the IDF, you enter your identifying details, choose the certificate and receive it by email. The same IDF page gives two different turnarounds: one business day in one place, five in another. The certificate is authenticated with a digital signature and has the standing of an original, official document.

The Prat portal is a personal area. According to Prat (prat.idf.il, in Hebrew), you first enter your ID number, then log in according to your category: mandatory service, career service, IDF civilian employees, discharged soldiers and retirees; retirees have a separate login. You log in with your personal MY IDF account, and you register one on my.idf.il.

What you can do without the website

Nothing, in practice: the IDF gives out certificates and personal records only through its portals.

How to log in with an Israeli IP

1. Sign up for SuperStableVPN: 3 days free, no credit card required. Install the free OpenVPN client on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android or Linux and import the configuration file we send you (setup).
2. Connect and check that an IP-lookup site shows Israel.
3. Open the certificates site (ishurim.prat.idf.il) or the Prat portal (prat.idf.il). If you get the login form, the connection is sorted.

Ours is a static IP from a range of Israeli residential addresses. Sites flag such addresses less often than a regular VPN's datacenter ones, though no site promises to accept them (residential IP vs a regular VPN).

What a VPN doesn't fix

• SMS codes. To receive SMS codes you will also need an Israeli phone number; see SMS codes from Israel abroad.
• Wrong service records, a lost card or a question about enlistment. Only the army can sort those out, not the connection.
• Other services closed to foreign connections: see the table of 106 Israeli sites.