Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Photo: Dudu Azoulay
Barak deserves praise
Defense minister right to say military service comes with no insurance policy
Defense Minister Barak did well to avoid a populist move and promise the high schools students he met that the State of Israel will do everything it can, at any price, to bring every solider back home safely. Had he done it, he would have sinned twice: First, by not telling the truth to youth facing IDF enlistment, and worse than that, by completely neutralizing the essence of being a soldier and of the military.
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His willingness to make clear precisely to the people he needs so much – future conscripts – that combat service does not come with an “insurance policy” was a brave, noble, and required step. We can only hope that as a decision-maker, Barak will be loyal to the frankness and truth he chose to adopt.
A soldier is one who is willing to renounce his freedom, leave his home, dedicate his time, and even sacrifice his life for the sake of carrying missions that are worthy and required in order to defend his (or her) state. This is the essence and job of a soldier. During military service, a soldier may risk injury, death, or abduction.
As terrible as this may sound, the State at times requires “cannon fodder” to “commit suicide” for its sake. Aside from the commander yelling out “follow me!” soldiers should not take into consideration any alternate authority – parental, spousal, or ideological. This is also the reason why military service is not for everyone, yet this does not make it any less just.
A state whose soldiers are “children who must be returned at any price” is a state without an army. A military is a means that acts for the sake of civilians, and a state is sovereign as long as it can invest what it has, including its soldiers in battle, so that its citizens will not be harmed by enemies. Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir expressed this when he said: “Some soldiers sacrifice their own lives for their state. Others go to jail for its sake.”
Don’t forget the army’s role
We do not intend to criticize the families of captives or the campaigns to release them. All of us would act the same way. However, we need to point out the problematic nature of the mass conscription model (which has not been that way for a while now). The army at this time refrains from enlisting for combat service those who find it difficult to cope with the battlefield in terms of their physical or health. However, soon there will be no choice but to make it clear to the long lines waiting to join the most elite units that they will be sent on missions that may not see them returning home safely. The opposite is true. They are in fact nobly joining a group that takes the risk of not returning home for the sake of the homeland. This is the essence of military service.A firefighter is not told that he will not be sent to the focal point of a blaze in order to save children if this risks his life. In foreign countries, those joining the army sign insurance forms that secure their families’ future but make it clear what profession they chose, regardless of whether they did it because of an uncompressing sense of patriotism or a sense of adventure and thrill-seeking.
The fear to lose soldiers prevented politicians over the years from providing defense to southern residents and order soldiers into Gaza. It also curbed critical steps needed to eliminate Hezbollah’s “nature reserves” in the Second Lebanon War. This is not a form of criticism against the parents of soldiers. Their desire to see their children fully protected is clear and necessary. Of course, the army must do everything in its power to safeguard its soldiers: Avoiding needless operations, strictly upholding safety procedures, and undertaken intense action aimed at returning every soldier home, as long as this does not clash with the welfare of citizens requiring protection.
However, we must not forget the military’s role: To safeguard civilians. They are not the ones who are supposed to safeguard the soldiers. In an era where it is illegitimate to remind the public of such fundamental notions, the defense minister’s words deserve praise; we now need to see whether his statements were meant for the cameras, or whether this is a moral revolution aimed at bringing the army back to the State of Israel.
Dr. Udi Lebel is a senior political psychology lecture at Sapir College and the Ariel University Center in Samaria
