“It’s honorable and normal.” Ambassador told how an army system works in Israel

The Ambassador of Israel to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, told how the army system operates in his country and why people do not avoid services.

“In Israel, an army service is required for all school graduates, ie from the age of 18. These are both boys and girls of 18 years of age with some exceptions. What are the exceptions? First of all, these are religious people who, for reasons of religion, do not want or cannot serve in the army. They provide an alternative service or they continue to study in religious educational institutions … In principle, if you put all the exceptions to the side, all from the age of 18 go into the army, ”he told Radio Liberty in an interview.

But, according to him, the army of Israel is first and foremost reservists, the regular army of the country is not so numerous.

“Therefore, our army is based on reserves and on the ability to mobilize hundreds of thousands of reservists within 24 or 48 hours – this is what is happening in a martial law when martial law is being declared. What happened after October 7, we mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists for several weeks, ”the ambassador said.

Michael Brodsky also noted that there can be no situation in Israel when children of high -ranking officials, ministers or diplomats do not serve in the army.

“In Israel in this sense, there are really no double standards. And it is a tremendous motivation for people because they understand that everyone serves in the army because they understand that ministers or head of the General Staff, or the Minister of Defense sends their children not just into the army, but in combat units … It is honorable, it is honorable It is important, this is their duty. And that’s normal. It is normal for Israel, ”he said.

The ambassador suggested that this explains the fact that there were no problems with reservists in Israel, there were no mobilization problems.

But, according to him, it should be understood that in Israel the army system has been decades, and Ukraine has been in a new situation in 2014 and in a completely new – in 2022, so it is impossible to expect that the system will be adapted to new challenges so quickly.

He says that people who try to unite from the army are “very little.”