deal with having all the weapons they dream for, our army's playbook and their connections with their brothers FIRST. After all it was PA police who shot a Jewish father while he was on an Israeli road!

The Pal volunteers I've worked with have impressed me immeasurably with their skill, professionalism, and attitude. It all at once highlights the true waste of the nothing-to-lose "resistance" - and gives a lot of hope for the whole region if we can all just get (it) together.

When Druze demonstrate for equal rights and budgets, Jews say, yeah, they deserve it. When Arabs demonstrate nobody listens or cares because they don't serve the country. If they want equality, they will have to pay their dues.

A light in the darkness. I allways wondered why the Arab citizens of Israel never took advantage of something that would benefit them. I guess just to show that they want nothing from the other Israelis? They can use this National Service to help themselves and make a better place for the Arabs that need it and they do. They deserve the help they need the help let them use it.

Arab Israelis are putting themselves in an impossible situation- something with Nabil Oudeh only mentions in passing: "What role should we, as Palestinian Arabs and citizens of the State of Israel, play in order to best serve our interests and prove that we are an integral part of the political reality in the country? Will this policy of isolationism eventually serve us and our needs? Will it strengthen the national struggle we have initiated for the right of our Palestinian nation to establish a sovereign state alongside Israel?" This situation hearkens back to Eliyahu haNavi's words to the Israelites under King Ahab: "How long will you keep hopping between two opinions?" The crux of the matter, as Oudeh unwittingly mentioned, is that Arabs living in Israel need to ask themselves where their loyalties lie- essentially if they are part of the Israeli cultural mosaic or Palestinians "living under occupation". National service presents Israeli Arabs with the opportunity to advance within Israeli society much the same way military service acts as a prerequisite for Jewish Israelis to advance within Israeli society. What is sad is that Arab Israelis fail to see that balking at national service is just another example of "missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity".

A non elective but positive National Service program for the Arab citizens of Israel would be a progessive & helpful step. However instead of employing it as a tool for segregation, with young Arab citizens volunteering only within the " Arab" sectors, this is precisely the place where both communities can benefit with the meeting point of integration & knowing " the other" by having the young working together in volunteer programs whatever their ethnic origins are. This is an excellent way forward to know each other better as individuals & learn to respect & tolorate each other's differences. A national service program would provide marginalised young people with pride & sense of identity based on their humanity & ethnicity not just on nationalism & stereotypes. Whether a young person is Jewish,Arab , Druze, Christian or Atheist some kind of civil program without regard to ethnicity where the value is in the aspiration to help their fellow citizens would be a nuturing & positive process with huge gains to be had by all.

Political leadership of israeli-Arabs is disconnected and out of tuch with reality. I'm for civil (even military)service by israeli arabs. I just hope rab voters would stop voting for this failed leadership and seek leaders who reallty cares about their constituent

The arabs want to live in Israel then let them do some kind of national service. I dont see why we should allow them to be exempt from national service if they are arabs not jews.... JUST DONT GIVE THEM ANY GUNS Let them help make bomb shelters fit for use, be assistants in schools, working in parks and doing other jobs that the municipality is in need of somebody to do on the condition it doesnt come at the expense of a jewish job. These palestian labourers or economic migrants who have permits to come work in Israel get rid of all of them let national service arabs do those civilian jobs & keep the money in the country and the arabs or economic migrants out. There are many things we could give the arabs to do we just need to get past the idea that its not politicly correct to demand arabs do national service.

The heredim dont like the idea of violence & they want to spend their day studying Torah fine let them do a couple of hours everyday for a certain number of years to making the country better through civilian service where they wont have to see any fighting and they wont be spending their days on army bases they can go back to their yeshivas when the day is over. They would be doing a mitzva and thats the angle we should be playing when it comes to getting them doing their bit if they dont want to fight let them serves their country in a civilian role.... hard to argue against that one unless they want all the jews saying they are lazy and cant be bothered to work. Arabs, Hereidm we can get them both out there earning their right to live as citizens of this state instead of saying we dont want to do anything so we shouldnt have to do anything.

FYI, many Israeli arabs do serve in the IDF and police force... . to protect and jewish state and make it safer. Many israeli-Arab doctors are the best in the country in their fields, they also treat wonded soldiers and victims of terror attack.... Your comments amount to nothing more than pure incitment

I wish this was an initiative the the government adopts and promotes...

Every Israeli citizen should be part of the solution not part of the problem - Haredi, Tsfoni and Arab