No decision on favoring ex-soldiers for diplomacy posts

Cabinet ministers on Sunday discussed Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's proposal to favor former soldiers and national service volunteers when selecting candidates for the Foreign Ministry's cadet course – and it was a heated debated. Following a bitter disagreement between ministers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to postpone making a decision, and no vote on the matter was held.

Labor ministers expressed their opposition to the bill. Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said, "Don't teach me why preference should be given to the IDF. As an officer who served in the military, this cannot be done at the expense of those who should receive affirmative action."

The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman responded to claims that the proposal is racist by saying, "Islamic Movement activists can serve in the Shin Bet and Mossad tomorrow." He added that his proposal "does not include a quarter of the benefits they have in the United States and France, where there is extensive legislation for military veterans."

'instead of paying lip service, take care of veterans'

He defended his proposal saying it "does not come to disqualify one sector or another, but to encourage and give incentives to those that serve in the military and in the reserves," and noted that it "was approved by the attorney general, the Justice Ministry and the Civil Service Commission. Instead of paying lip service, every minister should take care of military veterans in their ministry."

As initially revealed by Ynet, Lieberman brough up the proposal during a Foreign Ministry management meeting last August. In the meeting, the foreign minister demanded that those who did not serve in the IDF or complete national service not be admitted to the prestigious cadet course or be allowed to represent Israel abroad.

Just last week controversy was stirred over a similar issue, when Braverman's proposal – backed by the prime minister – to allot NIS 800 million ($213 million) to the development of Arab towns, was brought for discussion. Yisrael Beiteinu ministers objected to the proposal.

Regarding the cadent recruitment matter, Lieberman said that "not making a decision would send a negative message to those who serve in regular and reserve service, particularly on the backdrop of the previous decision to transfer hundreds of millions to minority authorities that are run by the Islamic Movement and the communist party."

The proposal read: "As part of the process of enlisting Israeli diplomats, and in light of the feeling of commitment to the state required of those representing it abroad, it is proper to consider the basic values of the State of Israel and Israeli society, which are expressed among other things by those who gave their best years to serve the state and the society by way of army service, civil service, or actions for the benefit of the state or society."

Meanwhile, the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens called on Israeli youths to boycott the Foreign Ministry's cadet course following the proposal.

"It is shameful to represent a foreign minister such as Lieberman. It is not the Arab public's fight alone, but of every Jew who believes in Middle Eastern coexistence," Director Jafar Farah said.