- Title: In bid to belong, Israeli-Arabs sign up for Israel's army
- Date: 6th December 2016
- Summary: NEAR KISSUFIM, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISRAELI ARMY SOLDIERS FROM THE DESERT RECONNAISSANCE BATTALION DURING DRILL SERGEANT YUSEF SALUTA, 20 YEAR OLD ISRAELI ARAB SOLDIER, AIMING GUN DURING DRILL VARIOUS OF TANK DRIVING DURING DRILL MORE OF SOLDIERS DURING DRILL SERGEANT YUSEF SALUTTA, 20 YEAR OLD ISRAELI ARAB SOLDIER, TALKING TO REPORTER PENDANT OF JEWISH STAR OF DAVID ON SALUTA'S NECK (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) SERGEANT YUSEF SALUTTA, 20 YEAR OLD ISRAELI ARAB SOLDIER, SAYING: "Why did I decide to enlist? Because I'm from this country and I love the country and I want to contribute to the country. I want to be a part of the country. Everyone should enlist, anybody who lives here should enlist." JERUSALEM (RECENT) (REUTERS) AHMAD TIBI, ISRAELI ARAB LAWMAKER, SITTING IN OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AHMAD TIBI, ISRAELI ARAB LAWMAKER, SAYING: "This phenomenon, we totally reject it, for all possible reasons we reject it. A person cannot join an army (that fights) against his own people. What could go through a person's mind when he serves against his people?" TIBI WRITING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AHMAD TIBI, ISRAELI ARAB LAWMAKER, SAYING: "'We try to educate people that this is not the way. This is rejected, both nationally and ethically. And the majority of the (Israeli Arab) youth understands it and reject it." NEAR KISSUFIM, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) SALUTTA TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) SERGEANT YUSEF SALUTTA, 20 YEAR OLD ISRAELI ARAB SOLDIER, SAYING: "(Q: What do you feel about those from your community who criticize you?) I don't care about them. This is my country and I need to contribute to the country, I need to be a part of the country, to be like everybody else." VARIOUS OF SERGEANT SALEH KHALIL, 20 YEAR OLD ISRAELI ARAB SOLDIER, DURING DRILL KHALIL TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) SERGEANT SALEH KHALIL, 20 YEAR OLD ISRAELI ARAB SOLDIER, SAYING: "I enlisted in order to contribute to the country, because I live in this country, the country helps us and I will have a good future." TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO ISRAELI MILITARY HEADQUARTERS COLONEL WAJDI SARHAN, HEAD OF ISRAEL DEFENCE FORCES (IDF) MINORITIES UNIT, TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) COLONEL WAJDI SARHAN, HEAD OF ISRAEL DEFENCE FORCES (IDF) MINORITIES UNIT, SAYING: "Many (Israeli-Arab) youth believe that through a military service, they open doors for themselves in the civilian life. Nowadays everything has become complicated - housing, work, even travel experience at the airport, which can get easier when you hold an Israeli soldier or reservist ID card. So they understand that to be Israeli in that aspect, or to be a soldier in the army, it's actually an identity certificate of Israeli-ness, which can help (their) integration in various places." ISRAELI FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) COLONEL WAJDI SARHAN, HEAD OF ISRAEL DEFENCE FORCES (IDF) MINORITIES UNIT, SAYING: "(Q: Aren't there conflicts when these soldiers find themselves in operational activities in the Palestinian Territories?) Anyone who decided to enlist took this into consideration and lives with this." NEAR KISSUFIM, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) ISRAELI ARMY SOLDIERS FROM THE DESERT RECONNAISSANCE BATTALION DURING BRIEFING VARIOUS OF KHALIL LISTENING TO BRIEFING WITH CAMOUFLAGE COLOURS ON HIS FACE VARIOUS OF SALUTTA LISTENING TO BRIEFING WITH CAMOUFLAGE COLOURS ON HIS FACE SOLDIER WEARING CAMOUFLAGE NET AHEAD OF DRILL SALUTTA PUTTING ON CAMOUFLAGE COLORS ON HIS FACE AHEAD OF DRILL VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS RUNNING AMID SMOKE
- Embargoed: 21st December 2016 13:08
- Keywords: Israel Army Israeli Arabs Palestinians conflict
- Location: TEL AVIV, NEAR KISSUFIM, ISRAEL/JERUSALEM
- City: TEL AVIV, NEAR KISSUFIM, ISRAEL/JERUSALEM
- Country: Israel
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BQXNPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A battalion of soldiers crawls across the desert sand with assault rifles cocked. It's a routine exercise, but these are no ordinary troops - they are Arabs who have chosen to fight for the Jewish state.
While the vast majority of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are Jews - and nearly all their conflicts have been against Arab nations - a trickle of Israeli Arabs volunteer for the army.
Most are Bedouin, a community native to southern Israel. But some are other Arab citizens of Israel, the descendants of Palestinians who remained during the 1948 war of the state's founding, when hundreds of thousands of their brethren fled or were forced from their homes by advancing Israeli troops.
"Why did I decide to enlist?" asks Sergeant Yusef Salutta, a 20-year-old Arab from the north of Israel who serves with the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion. The army rarely grants journalists access to the unit.
"Because I'm from this country and I love the country and I want to contribute," he said. "Everyone should enlist, anybody who lives here should enlist."
The military conscripts young Jewish men and women, but not Arabs. It does not report exact numbers of Arab volunteers, but officials say there are several hundred among the 175,000 active personnel.
A Silver Star of David necklace hung around Salutta's neck, and he chatted with fellow-soldiers in Hebrew.
At a time when Israel is expanding its settlements in the West Bank and Palestinians fear they may never end up with their own state, some Israeli Arabs see volunteering for the military as betrayal.
"This phenomenon, we totally reject it," said Ahmad Tibi, an Israeli-Arab member of parliament.
"What could go through a person's mind when he serves against his people? We try to educate people that this is not the way."
Volunteers say their families are supportive, and that they are prepared to take criticism.
"I don't care about them," said Salutta. "I need to be part of the country, to be like everybody else."
His friend, 20 year old Sergeant Saleh Khalil, also from a village up north, said his contribution to the army may help his future.
"I enlisted in order to contribute to the country, because I live in this country, the country helps us and I will have a good future," Khalil said.
The head of the IDF Minorities Unit, Colonel Wajdi Sarhan, said some Israeli-Arabs saw service as a way to improve their chances in life.
"(It) can get easier when you hold an Israeli soldier or reservist ID card," said Sarhan. "To be a soldier in the army, it's actually an identity certificate of Israeli-ness, which can help integration."
He said some recruits faced threats and harassment at home from fellow Israeli-Arabs. In some cases, they are allowed to travel to and from military duty out of uniform.
When it comes to Israel's decades-old conflict against the Palestinians, there is no question - if they are required to fight, they must.
"Anyone who decided to be a combat soldier in such a unit took this into consideration in advance," said Sarhan. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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