Israel To Allow Christian Arabs To Join Army

This is what we fight for boys

For the first time in its history, Israel’s army is getting ready to send voluntary military enlistment notices to Christian Arab citizens when they turn eighteen.

The unlikely impetus behind the move is none other than the Arab Spring, the popular rebellion revolutionizing the Arab world and in the process recalibrating the relationship between Christian citizens and the State of Israel. Shocked by a new climate featuring violence against Christians in Egypt and Libya, among other countries, and displacement in Syria, some of Israel’s Christian Arabs are pushing for greater participation in their home state.

Father Gabriel Naddaf, a compelling figure in a full black beard, royal blue robes and a kalimavkion — the traditional tubular hat worn by Greek Orthodox priests that renders his already imposing height Shaquillesque — is chairman of a group called the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum (ICRF) that has been lobbying the government for the draft of Christian youth for the past two years reports the Global Post.

Elinor Josef is the first Arab female to serve in a

combat unit in the Israeli Army. 

(Ivarfjeld.com) 

The name alone — “Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum,” rather than “Arab Christians Recruitment Forum” — is a strong statement in this region. Naddaf has lost patience, he says, “with the Arab world telling us what we can do and what we should feel.”

“In light of the persecution of Christians in Arab countries just because they are Christians,” Naddaf said in a meeting with journalists this week following the army’s announcement, “our youth feels they must make a sacrifice for the country that is protecting them.” He believes that these notices, which still aren’t equivalent to the obligatory draft others face, will “open the door … to full participation in society for Christians.” But apart from an explicit welcome, the notices will include details on a possible preliminary meeting at the individual’s nearest IDF enlistment office, and reduce the amount of energy Christian youths need to expend volunteering for a service other citizens are brought into automatically.

Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, the country made certain exceptions to its universal, compulsory military service policy.

Although the Druze and the Circassians are subject to the same draft as the Jews, Druze and Circassian women are exempt, unlike Jewish women.

Arab citizens of Israel have also been released from duty, the state accepting the argument that an Arab could not be asked to bear arms against an Arab brother. Christian Arabs, the majority Christian group in Israel, are included under this exemption along with their Muslim brethren.

All exempt demographics may still volunteer, but must seek out the necessary information themselves. The Bedouin, who are Muslims, have a long tradition of volunteering for service, though they are not required to join.

Until 2012, according to ICRF, only about 35 Christians a year volunteered for military service, alongside some 400 Muslims.

Those protesting the move, like Basel Ghattas, a secular Christian Arab parliamentarian representing the National Democratic Assembly, see it as an attempt to divide Israel’s Arab population, or even a first step in the conscription of all Arabs.

"In a year they will see that the Christians are enlisting and apply compulsory service on all of us,” he said during an Army Radio interview on Tuesday, adding, "Of course we're opposed."

He called on Christian youths to return the enlistment notices "by mail or burn them."

Samer Jozen, a native of the Galilean village of Meilia, also a former paratroop soldier, says, "We love this country. We are citizens just like everyone else. My cousin was an advisor to a minister." His daughter is joining the air force in two months.

"My wife is Romanian,” he adds. “My daughter is a dual national. Do you think we could live anywhere in the Arab world? Do you think we could live in Lebanon? Syria? I can't live in any Arab country. This is my place. I am proud to defend it."

Monaliza Abdo, Arab Christian soldier who recently
finished her IDF service. January 1, 2014.