Overwhelming Majority Of Israeli Arabs Want To Serve In Sherut Leumi

In Israel, The National Service Program is the 3rd possibility--between military service and exemption--used mostly by Orthodox women.

Until now.

David Hazony has a post at Contentions about the effort to expand the National Service Program to include Israeli Arabs "as a way to help integrate them into mainstream Israel, help their economic situation, and remove the stigma of disloyalty."

Arab leaders--including Arab members of the Knesset are opposed to the idea:

Balad Faction Chairman MK Jamal Zahalka insisted that any Arab who volunteered for national service will be considered "leprous" and the Arab society will "vomit him out."

Haaretz reports that Israeli Arabs are not deterred:

Poll: 75% of Israeli Arab youth back national service

Seventy-five percent of Israeli Arabs between the ages of 16 and 22 support voluntary national service, according to a poll released yesterday.

...The poll found that, once given basic information about national service conditions and its goals, not only Israeli Arab youth were supportive of the idea, but so were 71.9 percent of all Arab men and 83.8 percent of all Arab women.

...Just over 27 percent of Arab youth said they would volunteer even in the face of family members' opposition, while 35 percent said they would volunteer despite the opposition of town leaders. Forty-two percent said they would volunteer even if the majority of Israeli Arab leaders express their opposition.

Sixty-eight percent of those who support national service said they are in favor because it contributes to the country and Israeli society, while 89.7 percent said they support the project because it would lead to greater equality between Arabs and Jews.

What do these poll results reveal? Hazony writes:

This is astonishing on a number of fronts: First, it suggests that what most people think about the loyalty of Israeli Arabs may be just wrong. Second, it suggests an enormous disparity between what elected officials are saying on a central issue of political identity, and what their own voters actually believe–which makes one wonder what the point of all those elections was. Third, it suggests that Israeli Arab leaders are much more interested in appearing to be a part of the Arab world than in advancing the actual interests of their constituents–which makes one wonder where their funding must be coming from. Finally, it suggests that, contrary to proper democratic functioning, there is something preventing more reasonable candidates from being fielded among the Israeli Arab community.

It is also indicates that once again, everyone is all too eager to accept what self-serving Arab leaders are claiming.

Crossposted at Soccer Dad

Technorati Tag: Israeli Arabs.