The non-Jewish protectors of our state

While at a training base for all infantry units, I sat down to eat dinner in the dining hall next to some guys from the Givati Brigade. Givati is one of the few infantry brigades, and on my list of the best brigades, I'd rank it number two. It was my number two choice, but that's like someone saying Yale is their #2. It's an awesome unit.

One of the reasons I love Givati is because it is, as far as I can tell, the place that many or most of the Druse and Beduins serving in infantry go. If you don't know, Druse is a religion that branched off from Islam a thousand years ago; Druse speak Arabic, and have an Arab culture. Their ethnic makeup is varied and complex, and I'm certainly no expert. An unknowing observer would, however, probably just classify them as Arab.

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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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