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IDF seeks to boost Bedouin conscription with string of perks

In bid to lure young Bedouin away from joining terror groups such as ISIS, IDF to offer series of incentives to encourage military conscription, including education fees, truncated mandatory service, land discounts and integration into workforce; 'We want to embrace the Bedouin community,' says commander.

A new project has recently been launched to encourage young members of the Bedouin community, who are not legally required to draft into the IDF, to volunteer for military service in a bid to prevent them from instead joining anti-Israeli terror groups such as ISIS.

 

 

With statistics pertaining to the Bedouin conscripts illustrating an extremely low draft rate, the IDF is seeking new ways to remedy the matter by enticing them into drafting through the use of a series of incentives that are to be conditioned upon a service length of at least 24 months.

 

One of the main benefits will include significant discounts on the purchase of land plots in areas populated by Bedouin and preference for tenders allocated to IDF veterans who come from their communities.

 

The discount will stand at 90 percent of the original price of land plots in the north and 50 percent in the south.

 

Bedouin soldiers
Bedouin soldiers

 

Unlike regular IDF soldiers who serve a for 2 years and 8 months, the Bedouin soldiers will only have to serve for 28 months, 4 of which will comprise preparatory training.

 

Their service will be divided into three stages. In the first stage, the fresh recruits will enrol in the “Eyal” course designed to prepare them for their military service. There they will learn Hebrew along with other technical subjects. At the conclusion of the initial stage, they will meet with sorting officers who will determine the nature of the remainder of their service.

 

The second stage will consist of 24 months of actual service in their units. In their final month, they will enrol on a course to prepare them to reenter civil society.

 

Also included in the benefit package will be the easing of admission requirements into studies for subjects which they will then use for their professions in the military.

 

Furthermore, they will be offered a free preparatory course for the psychometric examinations required by Israelis to be admitted into university.

 

Moreover, training will be available as they embark on academic courses. In this vein, they will also be able to take part in university tuition fees schemes and in some cases be eligible for fully-funded studies.

 

Costs of student living will also be largely covered by the State, which will also include provisions for private tuition, travel expenses and more.

 

Following their studies, the veterans will be granted assistance in integrating into the workforce and finding employment under the guidance of the recruitment office in the IDF’s Southern Command.

 

The relatively new department, which assists soldiers discharged from the Desert Patrol Battalion and the Scouts Unit in which most Bedouin conscripts serve, will also offer assistance for the smooth integrating into the job market, particularly in government-run companies, such as electric companies, the police and Israel Railways.

 

Photo: Haim Horenstein
Photo: Haim Horenstein

 

According to Bedouin commander Maj. Shadi Grifat, the new perks and succor constitute an important step toward ensuring that the youngsters do not fall under adversarial influences.

 

“The defense minister and the IDF chief of staff gave instructions to expand the Bedouin recruitment apparatus,” explained Grifat.

 

“The aim of the benefits is to strengthen the notion of giving something and getting in return. IDF conscription is obviously supposed to help Bedouin recruits break out of their situation. Also from an academic perspective we want to keep the ‘elites’ with us rather than see them study in Jordan or other places where they could fall under a negative influence," he continued before warning of the potential consequences.

 

“If we don’t embrace them at this time they will go to anti-Israel places: the Islamic Movement, join ISIS etc. If a young Bedouin stays in a tent and the only people who speak to him are preachers, the day will come when he will be in the field against us. We want to embrace the Bedouin community and to tell them it will be good for them here, and it won’t be in other places.”

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.08.17, 12:50
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