'For senior army officials, it is easiest to ignore this phenomenon.'
Photo: Tomeriko
Gays in the IDF: Change needed
Army's weak hand in dealing with gay soldiers is costing lives
The recent incident of a courageous lesbian soldier, who managed to put a stop to a personal pogrom against her from the other soldiers she served with, happened to make the news. But the story brought to the fore a much more complicated, age-old reality.
Both male and female soldiers who feel sexual attraction to members of their same sex must contend with a threatening atmosphere, one that sees them as the root of all evil, or at least a phenomenon better ignored or excommunicated.
Therefore, they know, it is better to shut up, to hide, and to live in fear. "I don't want to make problems."
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It's easy to point a finger at soldiers and their officers who mentally abused a lesbian soldier – but the guilt lies not with them. We cannot hold responsible those who learned from an early age that to be different is unacceptable and that homosexuality is an abomination that stands in contrast to the natural order and ethical principles.
And when the different one grows up and can legally carry a weapon, it is no wonder he uses it to open fire in all directions.
Goes against the image
For senior army officials, it is easiest to ignore this phenomenon, as it contradicts the image the IDF seeks to create for itself.
But the statistics speak for themselves: 30 percent of young suicides are committed against a backdrop of homosexuality.
If we look at the rising number of suicides in the IDF in recent years, we see a significant number of soldiers taking their own lives because of the tremendous personal stress and terrible loneliness they experience for being different.
It would be no exaggeration to say that their numbers greatly exceed the number of soldiers killed in the line of duty.
Prejudice, old-wives' tales
It would seem that this situation would have to bring with it appropriate readiness from the part of army psychologists. But according to "Choshen", the only voluntary organization in Israel that does public relations for the homo-lesbian community, there is virtually no effort on the part of the army to deal with the crisis. And what little effort there is relies on psychotechnic tests and pamphlets based on prejudice and old wives' tales.
Thus, a fictitious situation is created for many soldiers and commanders in the army about members of the traditional community, who have different customs.
The fact that many people choose to hide their sexual identity only heightens their demonization and they become true outcasts.
In this reality, commanders do not have the ability or the tools to deal with the personal crisis and loneliness suffered by some soldiers, both male and female, who are deeply embedded in the piercing blackness of the closet.
In my discussions with members of this community, who served in the army decades ago, I learned about the mocking, apathetic and despicable attitude they met with as members of the IDF, just as the lesbian soldier did just this month – and, I remind everyone, in the 21st century.
A soldier's chances to survive military service have been and remain dependent on individual officers, or remarkable personal strength.
Apathy is acceptance
By overlooking and neglecting this issue we give a green light to more suicides in the IDF. Army officers must do their own soul searching, for more than one of them are known to "settle scores" with those different from them, and who are not exposed to the true reality experienced by some 10 percent of IDF officers – those sexually attracted to people of their own gender.
Both sides must overcome stereotypes, which for gays and lesbians in the army can become truly life-threatening – they are in a system intended to kill foreign enemies, but there are also those who are prepared to mentally murder those they consider internal enemies.
Army heads, who endlessly declare their humanism, must decide just exactly whose side they are on: Do they support the targeted killing of the "other?" Or do they prefer emotional and physical peace for their soldiers?
The only way to alter this reality is to embark on a public relations campaign in all IDF units, to fight stereotypes about those with homosexual tendencies.
We must all remember that in this case, prejudice can kill, and the distance to the next homosexual suicide is short. A weak hand could lead to a slippery slope – today, homosexuals in uniform. Tomorrow, it could be gay immigrants.
This reality is a cancer in the body of the IDF that could destroy whatever humane dimension it still has.
Erela Golan is a member of Knesset for the Shinui party
