VARIOUS: Israel battles growing figures of youth evading mandatory military service

Record ID: 792065

  • Title: VARIOUS: Israel battles growing figures of youth evading mandatory military service
  • Date: 25th September 2007
  • Summary: (MER1) TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) ISRAELI STUDENTS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS VARIOUS OF STUDENTS LEAVING SCHOOL
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD1LFQDXNOZI0Y8FEZYP0WPMGM
  • Story Text: Once seen as a badge of honour and a core of Israeli identity, military service is now nothing but a burden to 25 percent of Israel's youth.
    In a country that was founded on the principles of universal service, a nation that is in perpetual conflict with its neighbours, around 25 percent of Israel's youth are doing everything in their power to evade mandatory military service.
    For decades after the establishment of the state, prominence in the military was seen as a badge of honour. Groups of young soldiers clutching rifles was a common sight on the streets of Israel, and for many, serving in the army was the core of Israeli identity.
    But now few Israelis are willing to take on the burden of service.
    For many, 17-year-old Saar Vardi is considered to be a traitor, a coward and a parasite. But "draft dodger" Vardi believes that if more people thought like her, the Middle East would be a more peaceful place.
    Vardi is part of a growing cadre of young Israelis who are refusing to sign up for military service in protest to the Jewish state's occupation of the Palestinian territories, coupled with vehement opposition to last year's war in Lebanon.
    "I went to a conscientious objecting committee. It's a committee that the army decides if I am or am not a conscientious person and if I will or will not get out of the army for that. Hopefully, I'll get out of the army that way and I do want to do national service," Vardi, a student, told Reuters.
    "I've had reactions of you know, people referring to me as a traitor and you know saying that my country has given me so much and I'm not willing to give anything back like a parasite but I don't mind those because I know what I believe in and if other people want to see me as a traitor, let them see me as a traitor," added Vardi.
    It is mandatory for Israeli men to serve 3 years in the army unless they can prove that their are physically or psychologically unfit for battle, or come from an Ultra-Orthodox background. Women must do up to 21 months.
    Twelfth grade students on Jerusalem's streets overheard Vardi's vision of the future for Israel's military services. Her plea not to enlist sparked discussion among Israel's future generation.
    "I think that it's a free country and anybody can do whatever he pleases...most people don't think it's fair, they have to risk their lives just to save people," said 15-year old student Yaniv Lev-Ran.
    "She does need to help the country in a way...to give back what it gave to you and not going to the army is not giving back, it's just taking," disagreed 15-year old school boy Yonathan Gibson.
    Army statistics published in 2007 claim that the number of young people who do not enlist for military service has crept up in recent years to more than 1 in 4 men and more than 43 percent of women.
    The revelation sparked heated media debates and government pledges to tackle the issue.
    Ultra Orthodox Jews have now been exempt from military service. But secular Israelis are also trying to find a way out by either claiming that they are conscientious objectors or are unfit to serve the army.
    "We have a phenomena that people are more egotistic. There is, the era of society of more individualistic. The educational system does not succeed to educate good enough the young generation for national values,"
    said Israeli lawmaker and former deputy defence minister Ephraim Sneh.
    Those who are heavily politicised say they will not fight for an occupying force and are even willing to go to jail for their beliefs.
    Others say that they do not trust Ehud Olmert's government.
    And some young Israelis would rather focus on their education or career than to defend their country.
    Several mayors have vowed not to allow entertainers who had not enlisted to take part in Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations next year.
    One mayor suggested denying so-called 'draft dodgers' jobs in municipal government.
    The recent increase in 'draft dodgers' has also hit Israel's entertainment industry with more voices calling on 'draft dodgers' to be banned from film sets, music festivals etc.
    Film Director Joseph Cedar's "Beaufort" depicts Israeli soldiers fighting the 2000 war before their withdrawal from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation. But these middle-aged actors chose glamour and fame over military service.
    "I think our film, Beaufort, triggered the debate but for the last year and a half it seems like this debate has been really dominate in the Israel public arena every couple of weeks there is a new story about another public figure who didn't serve in the army and suddenly everyone is upset about it and why are we giving him attention and why is he getting the glory when he didn't serve his country," said Cedar in an interview with Reuters.
    Partly funded by Israel's government, the production marks the latest shift in popular perceptions of a military that was once a force for national unity.
    U.S.-born Cedar is no stranger to controversy. His last two films, "Time of Favour" (2000) and "Campfire" (2004), were unvarnished portraits of the Jewish settlers with whom he was once aligned.
    Both swept Israel's version of the Academy Awards.
    "In my mind one of the things that Israel is fighting for is also towards normalcy and in my eyes what is normal about Israel is that there are people who don't serve in the army, whether its rabbinical students who don't serve, or artists or just regular people who find their root in life elsewhere, not in uniform and not with a gun and I think that in itself is a value that should be defended," he said.
    Marking the one year anniversary of last summer's Lebanon war, Israel held an evening in honour of citations for wartime bravery. One by one, middle-aged Israelis in full uniform stepped on a podium to receive honorary badges in recognition of outstanding bravery during the war.
    But while the auditorium echoed with cheers and applause from proud families, Israel's Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi took the opportunity to react to recent headlines questioning the growing figures of Israelis evading service.
    "You and your heroism will turn to the draft dodgers - avert your gaze," he said the packed Tel Aviv auditorium.
    Some commentators have lambasted those who shun military service, saying "draft dodgers" should be jailed.
    Others, like Sneh, suggested legislating bills to deny rights from draft dodgers.
    "If somebody says I have psychotic problem, I can't serve, I can't carry a rifle, he shouldn't have a driving permit," said Sneh.
    Israel is trying to appeal to young people by allowing promising sportsmen, musicians and even fashion models to do their military service away from the front-line to allow them to continue their careers.
    The government is also planning to launch a civilian service programme, which would allow conscientious objectors, the physically unfit, ultra Orthodox Jews and Israeli Arabs -- who are exempt from the draft -- a chance to serve in other ways.
    But as long as the number of 'draft dodgers' continues to grow and Israel's political echelon condemns them, people like Vardi will be perceived by the majority of Israel's Jewish population as traitors.

    ISREALI MILITARY
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