IDF Chief of Personnel Branch Major-General Chaggai Tupolinsky on Sunday 19 Shevat released a surprising statistic, that 50% of the Israeli population including over one-third of a males and a quarter of females do not serve in in the IDF. Regarding the induction of chareidim, the chief stated “We want to see more chareidim serving in the military and towards achieving that goal, we must do more to reach understanding and agreement”.
Speaking to participants attending a financial conference, Tupolinsky said draft induction is low, too low, and this needs to be addressed. He explained most of those who do not serve are because of religion. Among females scheduled for induction over one-third do not enter the military as opposed to men, about a quarter.
The senior officer feels the IDF has two roles, with the first being defense of the country but regarding personnel, he feels the IDF also turns out quality citizens who are good for the nation, including good workers with the tools acquired in the military. He feels more Israelis have to pass through the IDF including new immigrants, chareidim, veteran Israelis, and religious females. Tupolinsky also wants to see ‘at risk’ youths in the IDF, who today are generally rejected from service.
Regarding the chareidim he added “This is the first time they are presented with an induction goal for 2015, 2,700 chareidim, but I would like to see the figure increased. Towards achieving this goal there must be agreement and understanding. The IDF is compelled to do what the law instructs it to do”.
He added the military is committed to equality and today, there are far fewer females clerks and secretaries and more women serving in professional slots. He added that today, 98% of military positions are available to women as well as men.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
50% of the population don’t serve however they want to go after the chareidim
do i smell a scapegoat?
If the army abolished conscription, which would require getting rid of most jobnik positions, it would attract recruits by offering economic benefits (current Israeli law largely bans an American style system of veteran benefits and preferences) and making an effort to better accomodate those it wants to recruit.
Please clarify: 50% do not serve, including a third of men and a quarter of women. A third plus a quarter equals 29%, if my yeshiva math serves me well.
And later it says that a third of the women do not serve. Is it a quarter or a third?
Please clarify.
Also, is this the personal opinion of Mr Tupolinsky or an expression of the army’s needs? I have read that the army has more soldiers than it can use. Mr Tupolinsky indicates that he would like to see more charedim ‘molded’ by the army, which is purely subjective. Many others feel that the army may not be the best chinuch for them….
To #1, no you don’t smell a scapegoat. The army would rather not draft the Arabs as that would defeat the purpose of the army. Them there is the elderly and the sick. After you deduct the applicable groups, the next largest is the chareidim.
And instead of using the torah to steal from a government that has tried to work with you, how about obaying the law and try to defend a land where torah and religion can be freely practiced in the land of our forefathers.
To commenter no. 3: Your arithmetic is fine, but you omitted to explicitly state your assumption that the male and female populations are equal, which is usually a sound assumption. If the male and female populations were significantly unequal, your conclusion that only 29% of the total population are not recruited into the IDF would be wrong.