Rural NATIONAL RELIGIOUS SOLDIERS MOST MOTIVATED IN IDF

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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132799   











Rural Religious Soldiers ‘Most Motivated;’ Tel Aviv Apathetic
 
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
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(IsraelNN.com)

National religious soldiers from rural areas are the most motivated to serve in IDF combat units, but secular Tel Aviv youth are less interested, according to IDF statistics compiled from 2005-2007.

No high school from Tel Aviv entered the top 50 of those that were ranked according to the number of students enlisting in the IDF and the number who volunteered for combat units. A growing phenomenon in urban areas is for graduating students not to serve in the IDF, either by leaving the country or by using methods to fail entry tests.

The most motivated high school was at religious Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, located on the border with Jordan and less than five miles south of the town of the Jordan Valley town of Beit Shean. School principal Moshe Torpaz explained to the Hebrew-language newspaper Yisrael HaYom, “We place values as the highest priority, and we live in an area where everyone is closely associated with the IDF and the State of Israel.”

Unlike most Israelis, especially those in urban areas, who turn Independence Day into the most important event of the year with barbeques, Torpaz said that "Memorial Day for Soldiers is the most significant day in our communities.” He also noted that he served 100 days in reserve duty last year as deputy battalion commander.

The second-most motivated school, according to the IDF rankings of 506 high schools, is located in Hispin, a small religious community in the Golan Heights.

A secular high school made in into third place, but schools from Tel Aviv, Holon, Haifa and Rishon LeTzion, which scored the lowest, are notably absent, while schools from less-central areas dotted the list.

The prominence of communities of national religious soldiers replaces secular kibbutzim and moshavim, which traditionally were the most highly motivated soldiers.

Communities from Judea and Samaria were not prominent on the list because a large number of students serve in the army through the Hesder yeshiva program, which until recently included 18 months of active duty. The length of service now is two years. The statistics were gathered during the tenure of IDF manpower chief Elazar Stern who conducted a running battle over the Hesder program.

The trend towards more national religious soldiers also was reflected in statistics for officers' school, and it previously has been reported that "knitted kippa” soldiers comprise nearly one-third of young officers.

One IDF source commented that the high motivation of national religious soldiers is not a coincidence. "Religious education puts an emphasis on love of the People of Israel and the Land of Israel, and this is seen in their volunteering for combat units,” he stated.

The growing percentage of soldiers wearing a kippa has changed the entire face of the army in recent years. In the Negev, the army is building separate swimming pools for men and women at a training base because of the large number of observant soldiers. Jewish law prohibits mixed swimming.