Revolt of the pampered
Forty-three citizens who are refusing to help Israel collect information about Palestinian terrorism announced in a brief letter on Friday that they would not continue to serve reserve duty in the Intelligence Corps Unit 8200. Objecting to continued Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria is one thing, but an objection to protecting Israeli lives from terrorism in Gaza is something else entirely.
For 14 years, Unit 8200 has helped protect one Aharon Peretz, an acquaintance of mine who is getting hit by rockets in the middle of Sderot but isn't running away; and also people very dear to me who put their lives in danger during the war when they went into the tunnels in Gaza so the terrorists wouldn't be able to pop out the other end in Nahal Oz or Sufa or Kfar Aza. But a few of the privileged members of the unit don't want any part of this, and shouldn't be coerced.
While in a law-abiding country a collective refusal to carry out a military order is considered mutiny, there is no reason to take the matter that far. The soldiers must be demoted to the rank of private and be permanently exempted from further service -- so long, and we won't be seeing you. No big deal.
The spokesman for the group is Michael Sfard, an attorney well-known for representing Palestinians. He served as a mouthpiece for the group on Ayala Hasson's current events program on Channel 1. I read their claims: One overheard that the Shin Bet security agency recruited an informant by offering medical treatment in Israel to a relative who has cancer; another overheard -- good heavens -- intimate conversations between a couple suspected to be terrorists.
This argument is ridiculous. When the Israeli Police carries out a legal wiretap on Israeli citizens, things like these are overheard and cannot be made use of. Has anyone ever heard of Israel pressuring a Palestinian woman because an intimate conversation between her and her partner was unintentionally overheard? Nonsense.
The Israel Defense Forces should have taken decisive action, but Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, and Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi were blessed with patience. Ya'alon remembers other letters like these that exploited military service to take a political stand. It was in the time of Ariel Sharon, and there were wild rumors about who was behind them. Something else, with different people, just happened again, and Ya'alon intends to look into it.
Unit 8200 comprises high-tech wunderkind. In his glory years as IDF chief, Lt. Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi observed that he understood why so many parents of a certain breed of citizens pushed to have their children serve in the unit. It's prestigious, vital military service that does not put the rear-guard soldier at risk. And when they are released, soldiers from the unit have a good chance of making a nice living. If the Unit 8200 soldiers were sent off on three months of patrols and ambushes on the Gaza border before they were plunked down in front of a keyboard, the number of "objectors" would be considerably smaller.
On the other hand, the army should be praised for not making personal politics a selection criteria and drafting those who oppose Israeli presence in the territories into such a sensitive unit.
Letters like these are the result of education lacking in any Zionist emphasis. It's difficult to wield any influence over parents who are more selfish than they used to be. But there is a place to complain about the various education ministers and the school systems they are responsible for, who have not produced youngsters who distinguish between their democratic obligation to serve in the IDF in any role and their own, legitimate, outlook that opposes the occupation.
In practice, they much understand that when the longed-for day finally arrives and two states for two people are established, Israel will need additional 8200-style intelligence activity until the tattered trust between Jews and Palestinians is rebuilt. Until the wunderkinder get this through their heads, we'll have to experience the difficulty and the grotesqueness of a revolt of the pampered.
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