Detail from the letter of the 130 soldiers declaring they will not serve if the government does not strike a hostage deal.
Detail from the letter of the 130 soldiers declaring they will not serve if the government does not strike a hostage deal.Credit: Images: IDF Spokesperson's Unit; Shutterstock. Artwork: Ayala Berger
by: Sami Peretz, Ha-aretz.com
Under the current government, the Israeli soldier has never had it worse. Compulsory service has been extended by four months, the length of reserve duty has been tripled, and the age for retiring from the reserves has risen by a year. Plus, any soldier abducted to the Gaza Strip is set to be the last released in a deal to bring the hostages home, if a deal ever happens.
All this is going on as the government pushes a bill to let the ultra- Orthodox dodge the draft, even though the army has lost over 10,000 soldiers who have been killed, wounded or impaired psychologically.
This raises two questions. First, why are people still agreeing to serve? Second, how long will they agree to serve in a situation that promises a war with no end in sight, without their ultra-Orthodox brothers serving alongside them, and when it's clear that if they fall into the enemy's hands, the chances of them returning are paltry?
What conclusion are soldiers supposed to reach about the government's actions? If they have a little time to think about it between missions, the unavoidable conclusion is that the government doesn't care about them. It sees them as a resource that needs to do everything asked: Risk your life, livelihood and family even though the government and the person leading it are unwilling to take any risk that would jeopardize their power.