In his address to a Ramadan event on Tuesday, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin explained he opposes any effort to draft the Arab community into the IDF.

He explained that in all honesty, the Arab sector cannot serve and the Jewish sector does not want them in the army. He rejected calls that equate Arab service in the IDF will efforts for equality in the Israeli Arab sector, calling them cheap populist statements, nothing more.

Rivlin did state that he does believe that Israeli Arabs should serve in a national service framework.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)