Yes, it is technicly mandatory for all citizen to serve in the IDF, from the age of 18 (Alcohol, Porn and voting rights are all 18 here, and nither has been changed to 21 because of the rational- if they're old enough to die for our country, they're old enough to do anything an adult can do).
The mandatory period is 3 years, after that if you choose to stay it's a career and the salary is nowhere near the modest budget you get in those 3 years.
I said "technicly mandatory for all citizen", and that's a -big- issue here. Thing is, the orthodox minority doesn't serve, it's a long story but there's lots of enmity all around that issue in the Israeli society. Lately there's more and more people avoiding the army not for religious reasons, and that's an issue to itself.
Myself, I can't say I agree with everything the Israeli government does, but I do intend to serve my country at least those 3 years.
Oh, and btw, I personally love NYC