Submitted by Dave Levy, Jul 21, 2007 22:26

Israel has to, like the US, know exactly the number of recruits it needs for it's protection minimally.

If the one-quarter that don't enlist or make the army is acceptable, than Israel's security won't be diminished. However, if it is construed that there is a significant affect, Israel must review it's exemption policy. There is also the question of fairness.

This is not a game for Israel, it's life or death as a state. There can be no excuses for those who evade the draft. Israel should keep track of it's own citizens..who leaves the country, and who returns. For those who are away on legal passports, fine. But those passports expire eventually. The ultra-Orthodox who evade the draft and are in fact professional students (not candidates for the clergy), must do some national service, at least to alleviate some of the burdens of the military. They could for example do secretarial or other types of clerical duty. They could have army classifications which do not require heavy combat, if deemed unreliable or not suitable. They could serve in hospitals for example.

Israel does not have the luxury of a draft pool from 300m people., or tens of thousands of state of the art weapons, tanks, fighter bombers, aircraft carriers. Israel is, still, a small country with limited resources.

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