Standard colors of IDF AFVs since 1950s

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were formed in 1948 and since then took part in several conflicts including: 1956 Suez Crisis, 1967 Six-Day War, 1973 Yom Kippur War. First heavy AFVs in IDF use were M4 Sherman, AMX-13, Centurion and M48 tanks (initially delivered by West Germany). After the Six-Day War the US became a major supplier of military equipment (including further M48 and M60 tanks, M113 APCs). IDF also operated a large number of equipment captured from the Arab armies (including T-54/55/62 converted to Tiran 4/5/6). Since the beginning of 1980s a locally developed Merkava tank became a major asset of IDF. All above mentioned vehicles wore unique IDF colors, from Olive Drab in early days, through several variants of sand-greys, to the most recent grey-green camo.