Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel’s military  has been authorized to launch the recruitment of thousands of Christian Arabs.

Until now, Christians volunteered for the military in a move that exposed them to a backlash by their Muslim neighbors.

“Under these new arrangements, they will no longer have to submit their own enlistment request and expose themselves to potential pressure from their Christian co-religionists or from Muslims, who are overwhelmingly hostile to conscription,” Israel Army radio said.

In a report on April 22, Army Radio said Christian Arabs would not be forced to join the military. Instead, Christians who reach age 17 would receive conscription notices over the next few weeks. At that point, the Christians could decide to join or reject the military.

About 100 Christians, out of a community of 130,000, were said to serve in the military on a volunteer basis. Army Radio said the military, citing a manpower shortage, believed it could draft up to 1,000 Christians.

Christians have expressed mixed sentiments over the recruitment of their
community. A priest from Nazareth has established the Forum for Christian
Enlistment to the Israel Defense Forces, while some 400 Christians were said
to serve in the reserves.

Officials did not confirm the radio report. But they said Christian
community leaders have encouraged the government of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to treat them separately from the much larger Muslim sector.

Arab parliamentarians said the latest measure was meant to tear
Christians from Muslim Arabs. They cited a law passed in February 2014 that
granted Christian Arabs separate representation from Muslims on a national
employment commission.

“Within a year, we will see them trying to enlist everyone,” Basel
Ghattas, an Arab Christian parliamentarian, said. “I
called on all the young men in the sector to return the enlistment orders or
burn them at a protest.”

  avoid Muslim backlash, Basel Ghattas, conscription, IDF, Israeli military plans to shield Christian Arab recruits from Muslim pressure