Get Me a Draft Card!

Why some American students are enlisting in Israel.

By Ryan Werder, University of Michigan

While the majority of college students would oppose a military draft in the United States, some American students are voluntarily entering into a mandatory service program– in Israel.

Since Israel’s founding in 1948, military service has been required of Israeli men and women. All immigrants to Israel under the age of 28 must serve at least six months in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Hundreds of Americans between the ages of 18 and 28 immigrate to Israel each year. And there are also Americans who join the IDF directly through programs like Mahal2000 and Machal Hesder. These programs do not require Israeli citizenship, only that applicants be Jewish.

So why are students here in America putting themselves in the line of fire in one of the most volatile regions in the world, and for what some students on their campuses might even think is the wrong side?

To those making aliyah (immigrating to Israel), joining the IDF doesn’t feel forced. Zach Bier, a sophomore at the University of Michigan, isn’t necessarily interested in immigrating to Israel yet, but he says he is set on joining the IDF at some point in the future. “If I consider myself part of the Jewish Nation…I feel guilty about not joining my fellow Jews in defending that nation,” Bier told Campus Progress.

The sentiment of connection to Israel manifests itself in various ways: a curiosity about the culture, a religious connection to the Jewish homeland, a fervent desire to physically defend the land and the people, and a simple sense of duty. Throw in the famous Jewish guilt, and these men and women feel as if choice is no longer part of the equation. They feel they must serve.

Scott Goode, a University of Illinois student currently studying in Israel, said he would be interested in joining the IDF to get a taste of what it might be like to make aliyah. In Israel, the Army is a far more integral part of building nationalism than an ancient ruin or modern night club.Dara Yaskil, a Michigan sophomore, says there is no substitute for enlisting. From her American point of view, she considers the IDF essentially the center of Israeli life.

Israelis call Jews who come to Israel to serve in the IDF “lone soldiers.” Unlike the majority of troops, these soldiers do not emerge organically from the state and families with military experience. Yet they adhere to the same requirements as any other IDF soldier and serve there in all the same capacities. Many Jews who make aliyah and join the army have spent a significant portion of their lives in Israel, but others haven’t. Regardless, “lone soldiers” risk experiencing a sense of isolation. Goode, who first began having thoughts of emigrating when he was a senior in high school, says that he now has some doubts. “I realize that if I were to make aliyah, I wouldn’t be… surrounded by all my friends.”

Of course American Jews do not have to serve Israel at all unless they choose to make aliyah. But in Israel, abstaining from service is not a decision to be made lightly. Those Israelis who choose not to serve are called refusniks. These citizens are not necessarily the peaceniks one might remember from the Vietnam era, despite the similar suffix. Many refuseniks believe for religious regions that the occupation of the West Bank is contrary to Judaism. Others refuse out of political motivations—they believe that the occupation is a disastrous policy for the State of Israel and that the repercussions could be devastating. In general, these are citizens who have a deep love for their country and are not all pacifists. The refusenik term is also applied to Israeli soldiers who refuse certain missions, such as any in the occupied territories. In addition to military service, Israel offers other national service options for those who choose not to join the military for various reasons. But those who refuse all military service will never be a part of the nationalist mindset forged by service amongst their compatriots—no small sacrifice in a nation with compulsory military service.

There are many Jews in America who are sympathetic to Israeli refuseniks, but because they are not expected to serve, their convictions lack the symbolic power of the choice of American Jew who enlists to support the IDF.

No single factor, including Judaism, can explain this attraction toward the armed forces.Though the Jewish faith is a primary pillar of the Jewish state, it is certainly not always the principle reason for her citizens to defend Israel. Yaskil says that she “deeply believe[s] in having a Jewish state. Without our traditions we are nothing.” For others, like Bier, the major motivation to take up arms is less for the cultural immersion than for defense of an ethnic homeland. In his words, he is fighting to protect Israel from those “who would give anything to wipe Israel off the map.”

Whether for Judaism, love of the Israeli state, or to satisfy a strong cultural curiosity, some young Americans are willing to go abroad to fight for a land which is not the United States. These students are steadfast in their choice and will soon be “lone soldiers.” Brett Wilner, a University of Minnesota senior who studied abroad in Israel last spring, summed up their collective sentiment best: “I don’t have a choice, just like any Israeli doesn’t have a choice.”

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