Returning from Lebanon, returning gift vouchers
Photo: AFP
Reservists send gift vouchers back to IDF
Two reserve soldiers decide to send back gift vouchers they received from IDF in appreciation for their war efforts. 'It would be better if the money was invested in the equipment soldiers are still missing,' one reservist writes to Chief of Staff Halutz
Two IDF reserve soldiers who participated in the last war in Lebanon received gift vouchers from the IDF as a gesture of appreciation for their efforts have decided to send them back to the chief of staff. In a letter sent to Lt. General Dan Halutz one
of the reservists tells the chief of staff that "It would be better to invest the money in the equipment that the soldiers are still missing. When you don't have money for bread, you shouldn't buy cakes."
The vouchers, NIS 392 (92 USD) were meant to be used to purchase books and novelty items and could also be used for vacation discounts. But Lt. Adam Matan, a reservist who commanded over a tank unit in the central and eastern sectors in Lebanon, claims that it is inappropriate to hand out such a gift as the IDF is lacking in basic equipment.
"During the war we were missing crucial equipment – from proper outfitting for our tanks to simple personal equipment like shoes, helmets, vests and coveralls and all the way to logistical means like a company vehicle," wrote Lt. Matan to the chief of staff. "After the war we came back to our war reserves store unit for an inspection and to my surprise we still hadn't received enough suitable personal equipment. We didn't have shoes and we didn't have coveralls and there weren't fireproof gloves in our sizes."
'IDF doesn't have a budgetary problem'
Staff Sgt. Y', a reserve fighter in the armored corps also sent a letter to the chief of staff with his gift vouchers. "I served in the last war as a tank commander in the area of Bint Jbel. Grave equipment and ammunition deficiencies were discovered in the instrument placed in my hands. These deficiencies could have endangered my team, and some of the missing equipment was replaced with equipment taken from a decommissioned tank… how can an organization which has budgetary problems on the one hand, and carelessly neglects the gear used by its front workers, easily finds the resources needed to thank those workers for their job."
"Many reservists have difficult bridging the gap between the army that sent them to war unprepared and without the proper fighting equipment to the army that later sends them to indulge themselves in cabins up north," say officials from the Hapash forum, an organization for reserve soldiers.
"The IDF doesn't have a budgetary problem; it has crooked priorities and amateur management. If they haven't understood that in the IDF after the war, the whole thing seems hopeless," says the forum, "at this rate - today reservists are returning gift vouchers, tomorrow they'll be returning their reserve papers."
