Military Campaign

August 22, 2007 - 4:00 PM by

You know how Liza blogged about the latest controversy surrounding young Israelis opting out of military service?

The issue hasn’t cooled down yet; the latest surrounding the service-shy is the cancellation of popular Israeli singer Ivri Lider’s scheduled appearance before soldiers. Lider was “let go” because he served a mere month in the army before dropping out.

The Lider story has been all over the local press and the L.A. Times carried it here.

Lider is pretty darned popular among the army age set right now – we blogged his video here earlier this month – but regardless…

…three days before a gala concert for 10,000 soldiers Sunday night, the 33-year-old star was dropped from the lineup.

The abrupt cancellation was a result of the army’s disappointing call-up this summer, which yielded the fewest draftees in five years. Worried Israeli leaders are now moving to stigmatize entertainers and other celebrity role models who have failed to complete mandatory military service. Lider, who was discharged from the army after serving one month, is one of the first to feel the backlash.

“The fact that those who do not serve in the military can become cultural heroes is worrying,” Maj. Gen. Elazar Stern, the army’s personnel director, told a recent meeting of state broadcast regulators.

The cancellation is part of a larger establishment campaign to discourage support for public figures who didn’t serve in the army.

The campaign to tighten conscription, the most concerted here in years, has stirred a national debate about security and values. Blacklisting is the most controversial part of it, widely criticized as a witch hunt. Some of those singled out were legally discharged from the army but are nonetheless being branded as evaders.

“Artists are constantly being asked to perform for the public benefit, but on a hot-potato issue they can become easy targets and be branded as public enemies,” said Rami Fortis, a prominent singer not on the blacklist. “What is happening is frightening.”

Here’s what I think: This reflects a larger trend and shaming tactics won’t stamp it out. Want to know why the young people don’t want to go into the army? Ask them, heed the response and find new and innovative solutions for addressing the root cause. Old & tired shaming and force tactics are..old and tired.

Tags: • Category: A New Reality, Israeliness, Politics, Pop Culture 

Comments

6 Comments on Military Campaign

  1. David-Joe on Thu, Aug 23rd 2007 1:30 AM

    2. In a free country, one chooses to live there, therefore one must consider it worthy to fight for. In addition, the only way laws may be changed in a democratic nation is through the political legislative process. If a person disagrees with the law, it is not in order to disobey it, otherwise the result is anarchy.

    I declare that the reason there is the problem of a rejection of serving in the IDF belongs directly in the laps of the Israeli intellectuals. Along with media cooperation, and the indulgence of the education system and even parents, the existence of Israel and the morality of Zionism is being undermined.

    How can anyone expect people to serve when the Arabs are considered to have an equal point?

    How can one blame soldiers for refusing when they see Jews being cast out of their homes by Israeli soldiers yet the Prime Minister and the IDF compromise defensive action by not bombing enemy civilians when Israrel’s security is at risk? Think about Sderot – it is an utter disgrace that those people have to live with the threat.

    It was Thomas Jefferson, one of the Framers of the US Constitution and Preident as wellas great thinker, that declared the ONLY reason for the existence of government, is the protection of the individual rights of a free nation – iow: security.

    How can one blame people when they see Israeli soldiers being forced to sacrifice their lives such as happened in Jenin, when 13 Israeli soldiers were killed for the sake of harming enemy civilians?

    One day, the Zionist fervor of those who founded and built Israel, will be reestablished, and it will loudly be declared that the country of Israel, in the Land Of Israel, is there by RIGHT and that there is no equivocation or deliberation required or discussion needed.

    And those who do not want to serve? Leave and stop being parasites. Israel does not need you.

  2. Stephanie on Thu, Aug 23rd 2007 4:19 AM

    3. I’m sort of assuming you’re past army age. So when you “declare” the reasons for service refusal, you’re declaring your opinion but not reflecting what’s happening with today’s young people. You can only stretch the “media” and “liberals” blame theory so far but that won’t solve the issue.

    The key is talking to the real people – the young people – on the ground and finding out what’s going on with them. And no matter your political view, the discontent is real and needs to be addressed, not strong armed into compliance.

  3. David-Joe on Thu, Aug 23rd 2007 5:02 AM

    4. What is going on with them? When I did military service we did not cry like babies and use emotionalism. We went to the army and at a time when there was constant fighting. That was it.

    I missed the 1973 war, but I had four members of my family serve then. I entered service in 1977 and ended up in Lebanon.

    It does not matter what these people feel – they have a responsibility. What kind of people are they that they are okay seeing fellow citizens risk their lives?

    Are they Israelis? If so they must meet their responsibility.

    I served four years and then the reserves for years.

    I have no sympathy at all for these shirkers. They are parasites and cowards.

  4. Stephanie on Thu, Aug 23rd 2007 9:14 AM

    5. But David, this is where you err. It apparently does matter what they think or feel because they’re the ones refusing to serve. It’s been 30 years since your army service and things have changed. The credo “You must meet your responsibility. Period” doesn’t stick anymore. Not with this generation. And they’re not parasites or cowards. Value for life is a virtue, not cowardice.

  5. John on Mon, Aug 27th 2007 1:02 PM

    6. The passage of time has not fundamentally changed human nature. Cultures & customs may change, but people do not. David-Joe assumes this. Stephanie denies it.

    Further, Stephanie values life while divorcing herself from the protection of it. Is this not somewhat like a willingness to parent a child, but a refusal to take responsibility for its protection? In Stephanie’s thinking she values life, but not enough to sacrifice her “higher” values of personal peace and prosperity.

    To believe that some form of pacifism or neutrality will resolve national conflict is to repeat the error of the Netherlands & Switzerland during World War II. Both were occupied and Anne Frank died.

    I ended up in Lebanon from 1980-81. We heard the same arguments 27 years ago.

  6. Stephanie on Mon, Aug 27th 2007 8:17 PM

    7. Wow, John. Instead of addressing the issue at hand you decided to analyze and assess my value system and character. However, your assumptions are off base and incorrect. And this isn’t about me.

    From your current U.S. home base I would think it might be difficult to assess how much things have changed in this region since Lebanon in the early 80′s.

    And during the 80′s, there weren’t record numbers of soldiers refusing service. That’s happening now. So clearly something has changed.

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