Everything in Israel is 'a case of making a selfish choice' ...

But I have to say a few things There is a misconception that palsarim are "elite" units these are the "inflated" units I suppose you are refering to. In reality, palsarim are excellent fighters, but they are not elite. They also work in tandem with their brigade so e.g. a palsar tzanhanim officer would be perfectly trained and capable to command the entire tzanhanim brigade The three units you referred to in your article specifically are quite small and rely heavily on miluimnikim I do agree that they should not be promoted to command positions unless they have done the necessary training and even then it could be problematic due to lack of experience in this area Prime example: we had a former commander from the shayetet commanding a tank division in the last leb war, and another commander from the same unit as one of the commanders of golani Both of these guys retrained in large scale armour and infantry warefare, respectively But both failed dismally in their command positions. Both have now quit the military. Dont get me wrong, these guys are some of our finest But they lack the necessary experience in tank and large scale infantry warefare. No amount of retraining can make up for that lack of experience. Sharon commanded 101. and Tzanhanim (which was then much smaller than it is today) When they sifted him to tanks from time to time he not only did retraining but got experience in a lower position in tanks before being allowed to command a division or brigade. Commanders should be selected on ability and experience. Theres no need for vitamin P when selecting such crucial people who hold in their hands the lives of our sons

Are pilots dodging because they don't want to be in the infantry? Are sailors dodging because they don't want to be in tanks? Are artillery soldiers dodging because they don't want to be at sea? Do "academaim", who sign extra years to go to University first, dodge because they want to serve in professional functions and simultaneously advance their careers with military experience? If you have no choice but to serve in the military for at least 3 years, then the personal priority and wise thing to do is to find the best place for yourself within the organization. Ron Ben Ishai is asking people to become completely selfless robots, and that's not how life works.

Please ask Ashkenazi for his reaction to your excellent analysis. Your readers are waiting impatiently .

or you will pay the price.

We will no longer be serving, certainly NOT in combat units, as you have decided that Israel's elite fighters are better utilized throwing Jews out of their homes, than preventing Arab Terrorists from attacking our country. Your motives are clearly political. We refuse to continue being your Friers. Get your finest in Shenkin.

This article's analysis is stupid. To say that trying to get into an elite combat unit is selfish, as opposed to the altruism of going into regular infantry is idiotic almost beyond words. Don't we want our young nem to aim for the top? Don't we want every single one to TRY to be elite as much as possible? Shoot for the top! Let the army decide what it's criteria will be for the various positions and who and how many they accept into the various units, but let the boys be motivated to make the grade! Why do so many dumb people get jobs writing for newspapers?

If political power of the ultra-orthodox bothers you, and ruins what could be a democracy, the solution is VERY simple: no army service? no vote. They might actually have to get a job....and that might cut their birth rate, the shratzim.

I know in Israel most people only do 3 yrs however in many other countries a military man must first serve in a field combat unit before being accepted to to a Special Ops team

To characterize the behavior of someone who volunteers for a special OPs unit as dodging "regular" service is probably the most stupid thing I have read since I read this author's last article.

As someone with absolutely no military experience and would probably have difficulty fighting my way out of a paper bag, your submission makes the most sense. It is clear that the whole matter is simply a management issue common to any organization. One thing is evident: they better get their act together soon!

No military service no vote for the arabs as well

let the idf target the 1000 of the best.offer them salaries that will tempt them and they will go to infantry and armour.

I don't understand that someone who is volunteering for a special OP unit, is a dodger! In the country where I live in Europe, if a draftee would be told that he'll go to a special OP unit, he would shit in his pants!!! Israel is not Luxemburg or Belgium. Army service is hard and very dangerous in Israel, so volunteering for a very dangerous unit is something heroic! It's a shame what the writer wants to tell us. If I had be younger and made my Aliah It would have been an honor to be in a special OP unit, as well as serving with the armour. Armour is considered an elite force in the rest of the world...

Induction candidates whose military medical profiles are on or near the low end of the combat range are inducted into Armor, Artillery, and Combat Engineering, while those whose profiles are on or near the high end of the combat range are inducted into the "regular" infanty brigades. This is nothing more nor less than IDF policy.

Really its not all that popular and becoming less so.Besides why look like a idiot and vote for someone who is not going to represent and piss you off. Smart people do not vote beyond thier own mote. And the world is full of educated derelicts, as they say.

This is a ridiculous claim - my son is an elite unit and he didnt go there to shirk responsibility. He went there because he believes that everyone should contribute as much as each person can and therefore he saw it as his obligation to go to an elite unit if he was of the appropriate material - similarly, had he been sent to the "gedudim" instead he would also have been satisfied - the important thing for him and for our State is that each contributes to his maximum potential.

And we had soldiers with high academic backgrounds. We had officers that were m.d.s, we had soldiers who were lawyers,engineers,accountants,computer programmers and hardware designers, aircraft technicians,mechanical engineers,bank managers,ect. Field units are important and they win the wars. Without the infantry and the artillery,you can not win a war.