Barak (L) at conference
Photo: Amnon Rauchman
'Israel's true heroes'
Photo: Amir Cohen
IDF soldiers Israel’s true heroes, Barak says
Defense minister slams ‘legitimization of draft-dodging’, says ‘a society that is under an existential threat will survive only if it respects those who defend it’
“We must return to the days in which evading the IDF draft was akin to wearing a Mark of Cain on your forehead,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday amid recent reports of a rise in the phenomenon.
Speaking at a Tel Aviv University conference held in memory of Ha’aretz reporter Ze’ev Schiff, Barak criticized what he called the “legitimization of draft-dodging in all sectors of society, from university professors who do not allow students (who are called up for army reserve duty) to take their exams on alternate dates, to public opinion leaders who endorse and advertise cultural heroes who shirk the draft”.
“Those who enlist in the IDF and the fighters of the army’s reserve units are the ones who are worthy of being society’s true heroes,” the defense minister said.
“A soldier should not feel as though he is a sucker. A society that is under an existential threat will survive only if it respects those who defend it.”
A week ago Ynet revealed an initiative by IDF Human Resources Chief Major-General Elazar Stern according to which high schools in Israel would give out evaluations about all potential recruits, not just those who are suspected of being "problematic", in the hope that such information would improve rates of enlistment.
President Shimon Peres said on Sunday during a visit to the army recruitment center in Tel Hashomer, "The people's attitude towards the army has to change. Expressing disrespect and pettiness are harmful to the army. We need to return to the consensus where all of Israel's society is behind the army."
