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Israel
Minorities in the IDF
Christian and Muslim Arabs were exempted from obligatory service
and, although they could volunteer, were often screened out by
security checks. Beginning in 1987, however, the IDF made efforts
to boost recruitment of Christian Arabs and beduins. It was believed
that this policy portended the ultimate introduction of compulsory
service in these two communities, although there was certain to
be resistance by both the IDF and the minority communities. As
of 1988, Israel's Druze and Muslim Circassian minorities were
subject to conscription (see Minority Groups , ch. 2).
In 1956 Druze leaders, feeling that being exempted from military
service denied them full rights of citizenship, requested that
their constituency be drafted. During the 1980s, however, resentment
grew within the Druze community because they were drafted while
other Arabs were exempt. In 1987 the IDF appointed its first Druze
general.
Minorities tended to serve in one of several special units: the
Minorities Unit, also known as Unit 300; the Druze Reconnaissance
Unit; and the Trackers Unit, which comprised mostly beduins. In
1982 the IDF general staff decided to integrate the armed forces
by opening up other units to minorities, while placing some Jewish
conscripts in the Minorities Unit. In 1988 the intelligence corps
and the air force remained closed to minorities.
Data as of December 1988
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