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Israel to recruit violence-prone for military, reject right-wingers

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, May 5, 2006

TEL AVIV — The Israeli military plans to significantly revise recruitment policy that would accept youngsters deemed as violent while exclude right-wing protesters.

Military sources said the army's Manpower Division has drafted new standards for recruitment, particularly in combat units, in wake of the Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in September 2005. They said the withdrawal has spawned a resistance movement against similar military operations in the West Bank that has been joined by hundreds of Jewish youngsters.

"We are expecting to turn away many people who are deemed unreliable and accept others who need a second chance," a military source said. "It a very controversial decision that even proponents say could backfire."

The sources said the new standards were meant to avoid the prospect that Israeli soldiers would refuse orders to destroy Jewish communities in the West Bank. They said the military would play the key role in the policy of Israel's new government to withdraw from at least 90 percent of the West Bank over the next three years.

On May 3, an Israeli soldier cited for distinction refused to shake the hand of Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz during an Independence Day ceremony. The soldier, in an act that aroused the anger of Israel's president and prime minister, said the military had evicted his family from the Gaza Strip last year.

Under the plan, the Manpower Division would reject for combat service Jewish youngsters indicted or convicted of resisting police or military operations in the West Bank. The army would also reject Israeli teenagers involved in illegal settlement. The sources acknowledged that in most cases the teenagers demonstrated passive resistance.

The sources said scores of Israeli youngsters have already been refused for combat service. They said army recruiters have told some of the youngsters to plead emotional difficulties to avoid service altogether.

At the same time, the Manpower Division has proposed the recruitment of what could be thousands of youngsters accused of non-political violence and illegal drug use. Manpower Division commander Maj. Gen. Elazar Stern has recommended that these youngsters be accompanied by a mentor throughout their more than two years of military service.

"We are not talking about sex offenders or those convicted of violent crimes," the source said. "We see this as a last chance for many troubled kids who either will turn to crime or get straightened out in the army."

The sources said the outline of Stern's recommendations have been supported by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz. But they said military police have opposed the recruitment of violent youngsters in the army. The police have warned that this could undermine discipline and drastically increase the number of military investigations.


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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