Israeli Scouts

founded in 1919, the tzofim was the first zionist youth movement in israel. today, the tzofim is the only official "national youth movement" in the country. it was the first egalitarian scouting movement in the world, where boys and girls participate together on an equal basis. more than 20 kibbutzim have been established over the years by nahal garinim of the tzofim. in israel today, there are over 300,000 tzofim graduates. currently, there are over 60,000 jewish tzofim and over 25,000 arab tzofim. the number of active tzofim has grown by over 55% in the last 10 years alone, while almost all other youth movement in the country have greatly decreased in membership. there are over 160 tribes (troops) in almost 100 cities, towns, moshavim and kibbutzim. over 1/3 of the tzofim tribes are located in development towns and challenged neighborhoods.