NEWS: Israeli Army Reservists: West Bank Occupation "Immoral" (english)

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                    Israeli Army Reservists: West Bank Occupation "Immoral"
(english) 
                    by cmg 6:54pm Tue Apr 10 '01

                              Courtesy of the Guardian U.K. 

                    Ewen MacAskill in Jerusalem 
                    Tuesday April 10, 2001 
                    The Guardian 

                    The Israeli army is facing a crisis because many
reservists are refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza for moral
                    reasons, according to Israeli campaigners. 
                    Ishai Menuchim, a spokesman for Yesh Gvuel (There's a
Limit), who described himself as a major in the Israeli army
                    reserve, said yesterday: "It is immoral to be there.
The occupation is not democratic. It is evil to take part in an
                    occupation." 

                    As the conflict claimed the life of another
Palestinian, Tayseer al-Omolee, 45, at Ramallah, in the West Bank, and
                    Israeli forces fired rockets at the village of Beit
Lahiya in Gaza, Mr Menuchim claimed the number refusing to serve was
                    already much higher than during the previous
Palestinian uprising. He also predicted that the number of refuseniks
                    would swell. 

                    One recent estimate is that 2,500 soldiers had refused
to serve since the Palestinian uprising began in September. 

                    He said that, of the refuseniks he had spoken with,
many said they did not want to risk their lives on behalf of Jewish
                    settlers. 

                    Dodging military service is a divisive issue in Israel.
One soldier released after serving a jail sentence said that his
                    refusal had been on moral grounds. Contacted by phone
during a long bus journey, however, he whispered that he did
                    not want to talk about it at length, fearing the
consequences if his opinions were overheard by other passengers. 

                    There is resentment among some reservists, and among
their parents, about being sent to the frontline, while
                    ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempt on religious grounds. 

                    Of the 31 Israeli soldiers killed since September, five
have been reservists. 

                    Among the grievances is the lack of compensation for
disruptions caused by absences from work. 

                    The liberal Israeli daily, Ha'aretz, in an editorial
yesterday warned that ignoring the reservists while giving favoured
                    treatment to ultra-Orthodox Jews was causing serious
harm. "If this is not fixed soon, the damage may turn out to be
                    irreversible," it said. 

                    The Israeli army is heavily dependent on reservists.
Almost every male has to do three years in the army when they
                    become 18; women serve two years. 

                    They are then called up for about 30 days a year, an
obligation that men can be under well into their 40s. 

                    The army disputes that there is a serious refusenik
problem and claimed that motivation among the soldiers, both
                    full-time and reservists, was high. 

                    Captain Sharon Feingold, an army spokeswoman, said that
95%-97% of reservists were reporting for duty, compared
                    with 85% in the years leading up to the Palestinian
uprising. 

                    Officially, 837 people failed to report for duty in the
period October to April. This compared, she said, with 1,059 during
                    the same period the previous year. Those who refused to
serve had received jail sentences, normally about two weeks
                    to a month. 

                    She claimed that statistics that had appeared in the
Israeli press suggesting a drop in motivation had been misleading.
                    They were based on questionnaires asking young people
where they wanted to serve, and had been filled in while the
                    peace talks werestill going on. 

                    Mr Menuchim, still a reservist despite being jailed for
refusing to serve in Lebanon, disputes the army claims. 

                    He said the number of people in jail did not reflect
the scale of the problem. He said that of 100 reservists who had
                    contacted his organisation since the Palestinian
uprising saying they would not serve in the West Bank or Gaza, only
                    five had been sent to military court: one had been
released and four had been jailed. 

                    Of the remaining 95, their refusals had either been
quietly brushed under the carpet or they had been posted within
                    Israel. 

                    He maintained that the situation will get worse. 

                    • The spiritual leader of Israel's Shas party provoked
a row yesterday after the publication of a sermon in which he
                    called on God to annihilate Arabs and rain missiles
down upon them. 

                    Israeli politicians from the left and right condemned
the remarks. A Shas spokesman said he had been referring to
                    Arab terrorists not all Arabs.