IDF to evacuate new recruits from Zikim

The army is preparing to remove all new recruits from the Zikim base near Gaza within several short months, Ynet has learned.

IDF officials said the decision is unrelated to the threat of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip, even though the Zikim base has already been struck in the past. Other troops will be stationed at the base, the army said.

The final decision on the matter was made several days ago in a meeting chaired by IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, Major-Genral Dan Harel. The proposal to stop training recruits at Zikim is part of a wider program seeking to minimize the number of younger soldiers in the 'archetypal' recruit bases.

The new policy would see soldiers being assigned directly to their designated units immediately after being drafted, and those units would also be responsible for their basic training.

However, commanders at Zikim were extremely disappointed and said they found the decision to be in bad taste.

Guidelines set in 2005

According to the military plan and following a meeting held by Maj.-Gen. Harel, it was decided that the last class of recruits will arrive at the base this summer. Zikim, which is south of Ashkelon, will not see any more new recruits after the end of 2008.

Zikim's reassignment was ordered in accordance with a program launched by the army about four years ago, which called for as many of the recruits who are meant for administrative duty to be transferred out of the regular basic training bases, such as Nitzanim, Zikim and Army Base 80, and onto their respective corps, right after being drafted.

The program, has proved successful in decreasing the number of soldiers who drop out of their professional training courses. The original program's guidelines required one of the basic training bases to be closed by 2007. Army Base 80 was first to be flagged for reassignment, but that decision has apparently changed.

Fortification measures in Zikim (Photo: Amir Cohen) 

Data revealed in the meeting suggested that the military was unable to meet its goals and that the number of recruits who ended up training within their corps from the moment they were enlisted was relatively low. Harel then ordered Zikim – the largest boot camp of the three – be cleared of all recruits by November of 2008.

'End of an era'

The IDF Southern Command's logistical division was tasked with exploring the options to reassign Zikim: "The IDF plans to keep the base intact. It has good infrastructure, so we'll continue using it, just for different purposes," an army source told Ynet.

"Zikim was chosen because it's the biggest basic training base, and relocating its recruits directly into their corps will realize the program's goals. The IDF is not running away form the Gaza vicinity," added the source.

The meeting that led to the decision to pull the recruits out of the base, it appears, made no mention of the September 2007 incident in which Qassam landings in the base rendered 67 soldiers wounded. Following the incident, the IDF began fortifying the base – a project which has coast about NIS 5 million (approx. $1.46 million) to date.

The decision, however, was perceived as puzzling by the base commanders. "How can this be?" wondered aloud one of the officers stationed in Zikim; "They told us that us staying here, with the recruits, close to the citizens who live under fire, was of the utmost importance."

Another of Zikim's commanders told Ynet that "just one month ago we had Major-General Avi Mizrahi, head of the GOC Army Headquarters, visit the base and note just how important we are. Not only did he not mention anything about leaving, he said they were shipping another company to the base.

"And now, all of a sudden they're evacuating Zikim? Even if it's just an administrative decision, it still very strident… We know how to operate in emergency situations; we know how to alert the trainees. I have no doubt that the recruits who have been stationed here in the last few years are better soldiers for that. It's sad to see the end of this era."

Removing trainees from Zikim, he continued, "along with the decision to relocate the soldiers serving in the Coordination and Liaison Authority near the Erez crossing a sign of the military's intent to minimize the presence of HQ soldiers in the Gaza vicinity as much as possible. The IDF plans to man Zikim with combatants or with non-combatant support units, who are already stationed in the sector."

'Evacuation – a horrible low point'

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit offered the following statement: "As part of the IDF's overall change in basic training structure, which has been taking place for the last few years, the training of new recruits has been made the responsibility of the various corps' divisions, in order maximize that potential of recruits' training.

"The IDF is currently assessing which bases can be relocated to the southern base of Zikim, in accordance with the desire to complete the program calling for recruits' training to be performed by the corps, by the end of 2008.

"With that goal in mind the deputy chief of staff has instructed the Logistics Directorate to choose the units which will man the base. Zikim will continue to be fully manned and there is no intention of leaving the base," said the IDF's statement.

"(Defense Minister Ehud) Barak has surrendered to Hamas and is allowing the IDF to flee the front line and abandon the (residents of Gaza-vicinity communities)," Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National Union-NRP) said Monday. "This marks a horrible low point for the army," he added.

Labor's MK Dani Yatom (Labor) reiterated the sentiment, saying "the evacuation of the entire base due to the attacks on it is a severe move and sets a bad example for the citizens of the Gaza-vicinity communities. However, if the soldiers will be replaced by others, then there is no harm in evacuating them."

The people of the Gaza vicinity communities seemed infuriated by the decision: "It doesn't matter what the reason are, we have to think about how this look from the outside, in Hamas' eyes," one of the communities' security director told Ynet.

Yair Farjoun, Head of the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, which Zikim is subject to, is said to meet Southern Command Chief Major-General Yoav Galant on Tuesday and demand an explanation.

"This decision has left a very bad aftertaste. I can only hope the government won't decide to evacuate Kibbutz Zikim and Netiv Ha'asara, which are adjacent to the base. The people who come to this area are people of vision. They will continue to settle this place."

Amnon Meranda and Shmulik Hadadcontributed to this report