A most interesting bill sponsored by MK (Likud) Yoav Kish was passed into law on Tuesday 6 Tammuz in a vote of 39 to 9 with one abstention. The bill makes it illegal to persuade a person who volunteered for IDF service to desert or to assist him in deserting in any way.

Kish explains the law is applicable to all volunteers, persons serving by choice, however his bill was presented strictly with the aim of preventing the pressure being exerted on Christian Arabs who enter the military by choice.

Arab List MK Aida Touma-Sliman opposes the law, explaining “they simply want to drag Christian Arabs into volunteering for the army which is occupying our people”.

This led to MK Talab Abu Arar, a member of the Bedouin community, calls on Bedouin soldiers to remove their uniforms in protest over the current policies, which he feels are discriminatory against Bedouins in the Negev, including home demolitions, land expropriations and banning family reunification.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)