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Monday, January 11, 2010     GET REAL

Israel enlisting seminarians for military intel

TEL AVIV — Israel's Military Intelligence has begun recruiting Jewish seminary students.   

Military sources said recruitment of the seminary students was aimed to improve the quality of analysis and services at Military Intelligence, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the seminary students, all devout Jews, have proven their skills in other areas of the military, including combat and technical services.

"You take somebody who has studied ancient texts for hours at a time and can solve difficult questions — that's the kind of work we do here," an MI officer said.


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MI commander Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin has approved the Jewish seminary recruitment program. The sources said the intelligence corps has established a training and employment track for devout Jews who eat a special brand of kosher food and reject the integration of sexes at the workplace.

In the first stage, MI accepted 70 seminary students for a long-term program that would begin with training and continue through career service. Many of the students are married with children and would be exempt from working on the Jewish Sabbath except during an emergency.

"We have very high quality people who spent years studying in seminaries, which gave them the ability for higher learning," MI manpower director Col. Asher Fogler said.

The program was the latest in the quiet effort by ultra-Orthodox Jews to expand their presence in the military, an effort supported by the government. These Jews have been recruited to all-Orthodox combat units as well as work in high-level technical jobs with the air force.

"There is competition for such people," Fogler said.

The sources said the MI program envisioned the Jewish seminary students working in research and technical services, including software development.

They said MI has opened top intelligence units to the ultra-Orthodox, including Unit 8200, responsible for signal intelligence.

"They built a special program here, especially for us," one recruit, identified only as Elad, told the Israeli daily Haaretz.



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