The history of the Nahal reaches all the way back to the early days of the Jewish state. In 1948, a gar'in (seed) committee sent a letter to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion requesting that he allow all gar'in members to enlist into military service as a group instead of being split up at random into different units according to the military's needs.

A gar'in is essentially a 'cell' of a larger youth movement, such as the Israeli Scouts, usually formed by youths of high school age in order to take part in various public welfare activities. In the years before and slightly after the creation of the State of Israel, gar'inim were mainly involved in settlement, but have expanded their activities to all manner of charitable volunteerism. Gar'inim are usually tightly knit groups, often identified with communist and/or democratic socialist philosophies, and continue living together on communes for many years, sometimes decades, after their military service, though this has become less common.

In response to the letter, Ben-Gurion created the Nahal program, which allowed the gar'inim to combine their military service with volunteerism. Gar'inei Nahal served together in various army units, most famously in the Nahal Mutznach battalion (Airborne Nahal) of the Paratroopers (Tzanhanim) Brigade, the reserve battalion of which was instrumental in the Israeli victory in the Battle of Jerusalem during the Six Day War (1967). Also, many Nahal-founded settlements are still thriving today in the Galilee, the Negev, and the West Bank(as well as formerly in the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip).