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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Israel
Index
Christian and Muslim Arabs were exempted from obligatory
service and, although they could volunteer, were often screened out
by security checks. Beginning in 1987, however, the IDF made
efforts to boost recruitment of Christian Arabs and beduins. It was
believed that this policy portended the ultimate introduction of
compulsory service in these two communities, although there was
certain to be resistance by both the IDF and the minority
communities. As of 1988, Israel's Druze and Muslim Circassian
minorities were subject to conscription
(see Minority Groups
, ch.
2).
In 1956 Druze leaders, feeling that being exempted from
military service denied them full rights of citizenship, requested
that their constituency be drafted. During the 1980s, however,
resentment grew within the Druze community because they were
drafted while other Arabs were exempt. In 1987 the IDF appointed
its first Druze general.
Minorities tended to serve in one of several special units: the
Minorities Unit, also known as Unit 300; the Druze Reconnaissance
Unit; and the Trackers Unit, which comprised mostly beduins. In
1982 the IDF general staff decided to integrate the armed forces by
opening up other units to minorities, while placing some Jewish
conscripts in the Minorities Unit. In 1988 the intelligence corps
and the air force remained closed to minorities.
Data as of December 1988
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