Israel Matzav

Feiglin: 'The real solution is to make the IDF a professional volunteer army'

The real solution for this problem is to make the IDF a professional volunteer army. Not all at once and not in a rush. We need a long-term plan in which every stage is examined before moving on to the next stage. The ultimate goal of this plan is to nullify compulsory induction.

In this plan, each and every Jew would be inducted into the army and would do basic training of a number of days at least and 30 days at most. The training will be tailored to the needs of the various sectors: There will be completely separate bases for women, the training will take place during vacation from the yeshivahs and universities, and the like.

Those who are not interested in volunteering will finish their service at this point. They can and will be drafted in emergency situations for guard duty, civil defense and if necessary, for more advanced training.

A soldier who chooses to volunteer in the IDF, and whom the IDF chooses to accept (!) will receive a good salary, truly professional training that includes an academic degree and most important of all – the admiration of Israeli society (as opposed to the situation in the US).

I have no doubt that the supply will outstrip demand and that many of the volunteers will receive a negative answer. The IDF will be able to choose who it really wants and to invest all its resources in those who are actually improving our security instead of vast amounts of soldiers who are not really necessary.

Labels: IDF, Moshe Feiglin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:10 PM