ISRAELI TROOPS LACK ARABIC SKILLS IN WAR AGAINST PA
TEL AVIV Ñ Israeli troops lack basic skills in Arabic required for
the insurgency war against the Palestinians, experts say.
The experts, former and current members of the military and security
forces, said Israeli troops operating in Palestinian communities in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip have virtually no knowledge of Arabic and fail to
understand the civilian population they deal with in raids and
operations. They said the result is a needless increase in friction with
Palestinian civilians and vulnerability of attacks by insurgents.
Israeli military forces are being urged to deploy Druse soldiers in
every combat unit operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At the same
time, the military was urged to expand its Arabic-language courses and
make them mandatory for every officer.
"In the last few months, the problem is becoming worse," [Res.] Brig.
Gen. Ephraim Lapid, who spent most of his career in military intelligence,
said. "The more hostility and antagonism, there is less willingness to learn
Arabic."
Lapid, who as spokesman for the Education Ministry is urging expanded
Arabic courses in Israeli schools, said for decades the military had a pool
of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries who spoke fluent Arabic. He said
military intelligence provides intensive Arabic courses for its analysts and
officers but the failure to use the language in civilian life has led many
to forget the language after they end service.
[Res.] Brig. Gen. Aryeh Neiger, a military analyst, said the lack of
Arabic has led to needless confrontation between Israeli troops and
Palestinians. Neiger said Israeli soldiers and officers have no idea what
Palestinian civilians are saying to them or each other and cannot read
slogans and signs on the wall that could provide information about their
surroundings.
"The soldiers enter the refugee camp and have no idea what's written on
walls or the screams across the street," Neiger said. "The officers have no
idea what's going on. In general, Israelis only know what Arabs are saying
through Israeli commentators rather than the popular Arab media such as
A-Jazeera."
In an unrelated development, Israel tested overnight Wednesday a new
system for the identification and location of missiles during a large-scale
civil defense exercise in central Israel.
"In civil defense, at the time of a missile attack against Israel, we
will receive indication even before the missile falls," Lt.-Gen. Ilan
Sasson, Civil Defense Intelligence Commander, said. "This system identifies
in the fastest time where the missile will fall .... and what type of
missile has fallen. The system can also identify whether the missile is
conventional or non conventional."
