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Avraham Cohen

IDF demands terminally ill cancer patient attends deferment hearing

Avraham Cohen, 18, suffered from cancer, but that did not prevent the IDF from harassing him and demanding that he report to the recruitment center in order to regularize his status as a yeshiva student; about two weeks ago he died; IDF: 'Regret the incident. Conclusions will be drawn.'

Over the course of the previous year, the IDF Manpower Directorate has repeatedly demanded that Avraham Cohen, an 18-year-old youth from Jerusalem, report to the conscription center to either enlist or request a deferment by declaring himself a yeshiva student, even though he had cancer.

 

 

His father Akiva sent medical documents in response, attesting to his terminal illness, but the army insisted that the boy appear presents himself and establish his status.

 

About two weeks ago he died.

 

Avraham Cohen, at the hospital before his passing
Avraham Cohen, at the hospital before his passing

 

Welfare Minister claims was informed by Treasury future increments in benefits will not be included in governmental bill, says: 'I refuse to side with those deceiving the disabled.'

 

Following an inquiry by a Ynet reporter, the commander of the conscription base called on Monday to Akiva in order to apologize for the distress caused to his him and his family.

 

In the recordings of the conversations that the father conducted with conscription representatives, the soldiers can be heard urging the father to ask his son to regularize his status again and again despite his illness.

 

In one of the conversations, an IDF representative makes it clear to the father that if his son does not present himself, his temporary status as a yeshiva student will be revoked.

 

Representative: "I just want to make sure that you know that if he gives up his status, he cannot get it back."

 

Akiva: "He won't need to get it back, and to tell you the truth, I do not understand what you want from him. I'm with him at Hadassah (Medical Center—ed) in the oncology ward. He is exhausted, cannot lift his hand and head. You received (the relevant) documents. I just do not understand what this is all about. "

 

Representative: "I am cancelling his status (as a yeshiva student)."

 

Akiva: "cancel it, give it back… believe me that it does not interest me. You want to come, take him away from the house and recruit him? We can call an ambulance together. I really do not understand what you're doing. The kid is ill, lying in bed, treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Cancel his status. Issue him a draft order or even an arrest warrant. Do what you want."

 

The IDF draft summons
The IDF draft summons

 

In another conversation, the father tried to persuade the representative of the recruitment bureau to accept his written requests to exempt him from military service, but the representative insisted that his son should contact them himself.

 

Akiva: "My son did not contact you and he cannot contact you. That is why I'm doing so."

 

Representative: "So it was you who sent the letter. So as long as you send it, I cannot accept it. I just need to let you know that your request is rejected, okay?"

 

Akiva: "I do not accept that."

 

Representative: "It does not work that way. You read the legislation on it and you'll see that the prospective recruit himself has to identify himself and request it himself."

 

Akiva: "Do you want to hear it now in his voice, that he's sick?"

 

Representative: "That's why I called, (to ask) when can I speak to the prospective recruit when he's not sick, so I don't bother you."

 

Akiva: "He's not sick with flu, it's not like tomorrow he'll be healthy, he's a sick kid."

 

Representative: "No problem, I did not come to analyze the case, I just wanted an estimate of when I could talk to him."

 

Akiva: "I do not know that, I wrote it to you in the letter."

 

Representative: "When the child gets better, he needs to properly present himself at the recruitment office to receive an appropriate response."

 

Avraham Cohen's obituary (L)
Avraham Cohen's obituary (L)

 

"I kept repeating my son's illness and the fact that he is frequently hospitalized in the hematology department at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem," the father wrote to the IDF Manpower Directorate. 

 

He suggested that his son's enlistment be postponed by at least a year, in the hope that he would somehow recover by then, claiming that "the documents (I sent) attest to this, and I was told that this is just the rules of the IDF. During his illness my son told me, 'Dad, how will I get treatment if they come to take me to the army?' It worried him greatly.

 

"For two weeks they did not even call to apologize, until this morning (Monday). It was only during the shiva (mourning period) that I received a phone call from the army and was informed that in about a month my son would be appointed a committee for exemption from service."

 

A source close to the family decried the army's obtuseness, stressing that their harassment only served to weigh on the family.

 

"The army had all the medical documents the need, why did they not just exempt him from service entirely?" he accosted.

 

The IDF released a statement in response, saying they regret their treatment of the Cohen family, apologized for the incident and assured that it "will be discussed and the required conclusions will be drawn up."

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.15.18, 23:11
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