Dilemmas at checkpoints

My last entry A Moral Army, generated many passionate responses, and I feel it necessary to add some context to the scene that I described at the checkpoint.
 
Wafa Biss, a resident of the Gaza town of Jabalya suffered severe burns in a cooking accident in her home in January of 2005. She received medical care at Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli town of Be'ersheva. As an out-patient, Wafa was granted permission by the IDF to exit Gaza to complete her medical treatment.  On June 21st of that year, Biss was arrested at the Erez Crossing leading out of Gaza with 10 kilograms of explosives in her possession. Her own words speak for themselves: "My dream was to be a martyr. I believe in death," she said. "Today I wanted to blow myself up in a hospital, maybe even in the one in which I was treated. But since lots of Arabs come to be treated there, I decided I would go to another, maybe the Tel Hashomer [Hospital], near Tel Aviv. I wanted to kill 20, 50 Jews. Yes, even babies."

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A moral army

When armies begin to train combat soldiers, the main focus is on providing them with the skills necessary to fight the enemy. Soldiers are taught to shoot, run in formation, and treat wounded comrades. In this respect, the IDF is no different than any other army in the world. What separates this army from the rest is the moral emphasis placed on our training.

During my three months in the army, I have sat in multiple classes dealing with the humanitarian and moral aspects of military service. The IDF teaches its soldiers that there are certain orders that must be refused. Needlessly causing lasting physical harm to civilians is one such example. "Just following orders" is an unacceptable answer here.

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The mental challenges

It took two months, but I finally finished tironut (basic training).  If there's anything that this first period in the army has taught me, it's just how much the key to success is mental. You learn to deal with the physical challenges fairly quickly. Eating rations for weeks on end, sleeping with someone else in a ditch, waking up to guard a couple of times a night, long marches with equipment and the many training exercises are all things that most people can handle.

The real test is whether or not you can live with the constant pressure placed on you by your commanders, the other guys in your unit and the general army environment.  Everything you do, from going to the bathroom to setting up targets for a firing range, must be completed in the amount of time allotted by the commander. A simple misstep by you, might lead not only to your own punishment, but to that of the entire group. Overnight, you cease to be an individual living in a modern Western democracy, and instead become a soldier with essentially no personal freedom. The stark differences between army and civilian life are highlighted by visits home, and it is often difficult to regain your balance when moving between these opposite worlds.

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