A new IDF tool
44% of girls don't enlist
Photo: Hanan Greenberg
IDF uses Facebook to catch draft dodgers
Army tracks down girls who shirked military service on false pretenses through social network
Draft Dodgers
Hanan Greenberg
Cooperation between IDF, police resulting in more arrests of draft-dodgers, senior officer says, adding that military courts handing down harsher sentences to deter youngsters who are considering evading army service
Constantly on the hunt for dodgers, and with the help of private investigators, a girl studying at an exclusive academic institute in the Tel Aviv area was caught last week. The girl was then dismissed from service after she declared she was religious - grounds for immediate exemption.
However, while soldiers from the IDF Human Resources were surfing the internet, they came across the girl’s Facebook account - from which it was clear she does not lead anything remotely resembling a religious lifestyle - partying on Shabbat and dressing in a decidedly non-conservative manner.
The girl tried to appeal the IDF’s decision to enlist her, demanding the Ministry of Defense honor her original claim.
To her dismay, the appeal was denied and she was ordered to prepare to be drafted.
Just recently, Yedioth Ahronoth published data revealing that 11% of female students at the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts in Givatayim we exempted from service on religious grounds.
In light of these and other cases, the IDF has recently decided that girls who declare themselves to be religious, yet study at secular schools, will be summoned to the Human Resources Branch for clarification.
According to IDF statistics, 44% of all Israeli girls do not enlist - 53% of them on religious grounds.
Until now, the army took the girl’s claim at face value and did not check its authenticity.
