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11 Sivan 5760 - June 14, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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News
The Secular Draft Dodgers

by B. Adler

It is not a secret that the left wing in Israel wants to see the High Court force the draft on thousands of yeshiva students. At the same time, however, it is becoming painfully obvious to all that young Israelis themselves are less and less interested in serving in the army.

A recent article in Ha'aretz openly declared that the mandatory draft is "now a thing of the past." The writer, Uriah Shavit, presents statistics included in a new survey, which show a significant drop in the motivation of youngsters to join the army. He quotes secular youngsters who have dodged the draft and claim that anyone can receive an exemption effortlessly. Moreover, Israeli society now accepts this forgivingly.

The paper presents a typical story, one of many: Three years ago, Yoni, who is presently 20, was called for the first time to the IDF induction center. He was a student in a fashionable Tel Aviv high school, which placed much emphasis on the ideology of army service. But all along Yoni had known that the army wasn't for him.

"I knew that I wasn't suited for the army," he said. "The military framework would have forced me to change so much, that it was clear to me that I would drop out anyway. I can't belong to such a primitive framework, in which a soldier can be thrown into jail just because he was late or fell asleep at guard duty."

Yoni did not have to work too hard to get his exemption.

"During my personal interview I sat opposite some hapless soldier. I told him that things simply wouldn't work out. He sent me to the mental health officer. I met with him twice, and told him the same thing. In the end, they sent me to some sort of a committee...

"At the committee they told me that I would have trouble in life if I didn't serve in the army," Yoni recalled. "But I insisted. I didn't have to make believe that I was crazy, or anything like that. I just said that army service wasn't for me. That was enough. My exemption card merely says: Received exemption according to the law."

And what became of him in the years that followed?

"Despite everything they told me when they tried to convince me to enlist, I have work; I have a driver's license; I have everything," he said. "Nothing bad happened to me because I didn't go to the army. Most of my good friends don't go to the army. Some do go, but the fact that I received an exemption doesn't bother them.

"In my circle there are still adults who preach that it's not ethical and blah, blah, blah. But most of the people accept my decision. I have no guilt feelings. I really admire those guys who enlist. But the truth is that some kids are simply not cut out for the army."

The Ha'aretz article notes that cases like Yoni's have recently become so common "that today no one is particularly fazed by them."

The paper reports on the findings of a survey solicited by Shmuel Abuav, the head of the Kiryat Tivon council and chairman of the Education Committee of the Local Government Center. As such he acts as a link between the army and the youth. The findings were compared to those of a similar survey conducted two years before.

The comparison pointed to a drop in the willingness of youth to serve in combat units. It also found that more and more potential inductees prefer to serve near their homes. In addition, the percentage of secular youth who have no desire to serve at all has risen from one to six percent.

The Ha'aretz reporter notes an interesting fact: Three weeks ago the telephone rang in Abuav's office.

"On the line was an officer from the army's manpower branch. She asked me not to publish the results of the survey," Abuov said. "Of course, I didn't agree. Only a few years ago, the army itself was the first to come out with these surveys, but suddenly they made a complete turnabout. Apparently they reached the conclusion that so many reports on the drop in motivation was detrimental to them. I don't understand that."

From his conversations with professionals and with youngsters in recent years Abuov has learned about certain procedures that may help to explain the results of the survey.

Incoming soldiers are far more interested in themselves and their own goals, he said, and much less interested in contributing to the community. In addition, he confirmed that Israeli society today is far more forgiving of draft dodgers.

And while Abuov does not forget to take a swipe at the "draft dodging of the chareidi sector," that is at the bottom of his list. In the end, the most significant changes are a lack of motivation and the absence of social pressure to enlist.

How does one get out of serving in the army?

Ha'aretz relates that there are a number of ways to accomplish this task. One of them depends on the goodwill of the mental health officer. But what really helps is the perseverance of the potential draft dodger in his efforts to wear down the system until they let him off the hook.

It is also clear that the army has failed to formulate unequivocal criteria which would determine who is fit to serve and who is not. As a result some draft dodgers must be quite creative in crafting their excuses, while others manage to gain an exemption without much effort.

During one's actual military service, one can receive an exemption not only by means of the mental health officer, Ha'aretz pointed out. A discharge can be issued by the Committee for Unsuitables, which releases soldiers who have committed many disciplinary infractions, or who, according to the army, "cost more to keep in than to throw out."

Another way out is through a special committee that examines the financial situation or health of the soldier's family.

The incidence of soldiers who don't enlist at all, or who enlist and are released during the course of their service is about 40%-45% of those eligible during any specific draft year.

The Ha'aretz article also details the story of 23-year- old Roni Barkan from Ra'anana, a former soldier who managed to succeed in forcing the system to release him.

Barkan describes his case history without hesitation: "I did work in physics. The truth is that already in tenth grade, I had misgivings about whether the army suited me. Despite the misgivings and all of the difficulties, I underwent basic training. I simply didn't find a good enough reason not to enlist, and had the feeling that if I didn't enlist, I would be a parasite.

"After two months in the army, I felt that it was time to leave," he recalled. "I understood that the army didn't suit me, and that I had no interest in promoting any specific country. I didn't care on what grounds I would be released. The main thing was to be discharged. I went to the mental health officer and threatened to commit suicide if they didn't release me. But I didn't give the system any alternative, and things became complicated.

"For a year-and-a-half, I roamed about the base without any job. I would come at 2:30, drink coffee, gossip and go home. In the end I managed to receive an appointment with a top ranking military psychiatrist. He heard my story and said: O"K. I understand. Let's find something on which to pin your discharge.'

"The discharge says that I was released because I was immature. I am happy that I managed to get out of the army without having to be in jail."

He added that most of his family and friends related to his decision forgivingly and with understanding, and that he hasn't encountered any problems in his civilian life as a result.

"I don't feel that society has placed any sanctions on me," he said.

Today Barkan works in the Komtatz company. He devotes some of his spare time to a movement called New Profile which was founded in 1998, and whose purpose is to cancel the mandatory draft.

Sergei Sendler, a 25-year-old philosophy student at Ben Gurion University, who calls himself a pacifist, sat in prison at the end of 1994, until the army agreed to discharge him.

"I was certain that I would be ostracized by my friends if I didn't enlist in the army," he said. "But it has become clear to me that during the past five years, Israeli society has changed, and quite rapidly too.

"The stigmas attached to those who don't serve in the army don't exist any more. The first place where I found work after my discharge was in the Central Statistics Bureau. I feel that in my circle, people have stopped idolizing the IDF. They understand that some go to the army because they believe in it, and that I didn't go because I don't believe in it."


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