High school seniors to PM: Shalit no excuse for dodging IDF
Following visit to Shalit family protest tent, high school seniors from Arava region write letter to Netanyahu calling for release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, but stress they are against dodging IDF service. 'If that were an excuse we would have no State' says one of its authors
The authors of the letter study in the Sheetim High School in the Arava and describe themselves as living in a bubble, not always knowing what is happening in the cities. A majority of the seniors there choose to enlist and the term 'army dodging' isn't in their vocabulary. As part of a civics seminar they took part in they toured Israel's big cities and the Shalit protest tent. It was after this visit that they decided to act – and wrote the letter
"We will enlist in the IDF for the defense of this State and its citizens…we will fulfill our duties in the best way possible and do so out of love and complete faith in our State and our nation, its values, ideals, institutions and citizens.
"We call on you, our leaders to hear our cries and release Gilad Shalit from captivity immediately in the name of those self same values and ideals on which we were raised through the years as Jews and Israelis."
One of the seniors who instigated the letter, Ron Zur, said that "after the seminar we decided that we weren't happy with what was happening in our country. The number of military dodgers is rising from year to year; someone needs to put a stop to it.
"People forget that we fought for this country. We are a State that exists on right and not on sufferance, thanks to our parents and our grandparents who sacrificed their lives for us to be here. That is a gift we cannot give up."
Zur, a resident of Moshav Ein Yahev, added that there was no excuse to use Gilad Shalit as a reason to dodge military service. "I want to enlist in a combat unit and when I head out on a military operation I want to know that the State will make every effort to bring me back home safely, just as I would do everything for this country. Gilad must not be used as an excuse to avoid military service, because if that were an excuse, we would have no State."
'Trying to make life easy'
Another senior, Shahar Tahan from Moshav Tzofar believes that anyone choosing to dodge military service "is just trying to make life easier for himself". According to Shahar, "there are some who enlist and sacrifice their lives, giving two or three years of their lives to the IDF. Everyone needs to do that."
She added that more needs to be done in order to get Gilad Shalit back. "I'm worried that I'll enlist and Gilad Shalit will still be in captivity. I want to know that if someone enlists and is taken prisoner, the State would do everything possible to get him or her back."
It has been a while since the original 'seniors' letter', written in 1970 to then Prime Minister Golda Meir shared the concerns of high school seniors over the occupation of territories following the Six day War in 1967 and the lack of government efforts to bring an end to the War of Attrition.
Ayelet Eliyahu, another teen from the Arava said that the group was very agitated after their cities tour. "Why isn't society doing anything? It was painful to see that the person standing at the helm of this country doesn't know what is happening, that it isn't one of their priorities," she noted. "Those who say 'I'm not enlisting because Gilad isn't being released' make me angry. If we don't serve, no one will."
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
