The existential anxiety experienced by many of Israel’s citizens is the product of a traumatic history and the all-inclusive draft. A professional volunteer army would release pent-up stress and make it easier for everyone to breathe.
There are situations in life when we must be prepared. Our muscles instinctively tense and our survival mode takes over. The problem begins after the danger has passed and our muscles remain tense from the memory of the fear. The trauma leaves us anxious and stressed, which in turn wastes energy. More than anything else at moments like these, we need someone to tell us that we can relax; that we are already on solid ground.
True, Israel has experienced difficult periods in our past and recent history. We had to protect our lives and we were almost annihilated. But the situation has changed considerably in the last years and today’s Israel can be a bit more relaxed and confident.
Constant anxiety affects the pace of our days, the shortness of breath and intensity of life in Israel. In India it is common to meet Israeli backpackers who have completed their army service sitting in a guest house and smoking drugs: The tension and intensity of life in Israel fade away in India with a little help from chemistry and good friends.
Israeli society can be defined as high-strung. Army service is not exclusively to blame, but it is definitely a major factor in our stress. It’s all inclusive imperative highlights the difficulties and tension in our lives. Sometimes, it also hinders our ability to make balanced decisions. The compulsory draft law is a remnant, like a muscle still flexed because of emergencies that we experienced in the past. Compulsory draft is not only a product of our anxiety, but it perpetuates it. By repealing the compulsory draft we can free the public of its existential anxiety.
A closer look at our Jewish sources also shows sensitivity toward personal freedom and rights – even during war. The Torah explicitly prohibits the compulsory draft of soldiers for medical or certain personal reasons.
The pressure that we are under prevents us from thinking of totally different possibilities to improve the IDF. Statistics show that the army is urgently in need of revamping. Even if it is possible to implement far-reaching reforms without repealing the compulsory draft, it appears that this step has greater potential to achieve the desired result. We are certain that many superb young people would enlist for volunteer professional army service. A state for which its citizens are not prepared to fight will not survive.
The time has come to begin to think about replacing the compulsory draft with a professional volunteer army. It is time to relax a bit and to let people live. It is time to begin thinking like a normal country, because for a long time now, we really are a normal country.
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