Tonight we had dinner with Diana and Michal from New Profile, an Israeli movement for the "Civil-ization of Israeli Society." We talked about the policy of mandatory service in the military for young Jewish and Druze citizens of Israel, male and female. What was surprising was that most Israelis think that every young person serves in the military, yet only around 50% of them actually end up serving. Besides those whose who get medical and mental health exemptions, the Orthodox Jews, married women, those with criminal records and others with questionable characters don't serve in the military. Most citizens don't realize that there is a growing number of young people refusing to enlist, or if they do enlist, refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. New Profile doesn't encourage young people to refuse service in the military, but they do support those who make the choice to do so, for whatever reason. This would be kind of like being a secular Quaker in America. In working for peace, they see their task as working for a more peaceful society in Israel by supporting those whose conscience prohibits them from serving their country in the military and would rather serve in other ways.
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