Your country needs you!

Despite being a libertarian, I’ve always been a big fan of national service. Serving in the army was a no-brainer because I knew it was the quickest way of being integrated into Israeli society. Of course, serving in the army isn’t all it takes. In many ways, I’m still out of place. But I still maintain that  everyone should have to serve the country in some way. Male and Female, Religious and Secular, Straight and Gay, Ashkenazi and Mizrachi, Jew and Arab.

Yes, Jew and Arab. I understand that the perpetuation of the conflict means that Israeli-Palestinians aren’t going to be desperate to put on army uniform in the near future. But I do think they should be offered a parallel track of national service. This will have an extremely positive effect on the Israeli-Arab sector. It will enliven communities with the energy of youth, and it will provide a useful track for young Israeli-Arabs before they go into the labour-market.

So I’m gladdened by the news that Israeli-Arab interest in national service is on the rise. Around 1000 Arab teenagers are currently enrolled in national service programs; in 2005-6 there were less than 300. This is a noteworthy achievement, and I hope that the numbers will continue to rise.

They won’t rise, however, if there isn’t more investment in the program. Because of current budget restrictions, the National Service administration has announced that there is no more room. This isn’t the only important program that is threatened by the budget, and it’s still unclear how the negotiations will end. One can only hope that the importance of these grass-roots programs will be recognised, and that the money to support them will be found.