Somebody on Quora asked:
I answered:
It’s an interesting question.
I came to Israel in 2015. I came technically all of one month before the cutoff for male service (ie, had I come once month later I would have been guaranteed exempt).
I got the call up to the recruitment office. The IDF clearly wasn’t interested in recruiting me. I have poor eyesight, asthma, and my command of Hebrew at the time was paltry.
The recruiter — latching onto the fact that I had a journalism degree and writing experience — asked whether I would be willing to commit to five years at burger-flipping wages to serve in the IDF spokesperson’s office. It didn’t sound like an appealing proposition to me. The alternative — for the minimum six months’ service time — were clerical jobs that, to me, seemed to make no meaningful contribution to the army.
After thinking about it for 30 seconds the recruiter led me into an office’s room who promptly issued me with an exemption.
It’s funny to observe the difference in reaction I get when I tell this story to Israelis and to fellow immigrants.
Israelis are infinitely more pragmatic. In their eyes, my service would have been pointless. I tend to agree. I believe that, by paying taxes to Israel and engaging fully with living here, I can make a bigger contribution to its society than by folding maps in a war room. Financially, tying myself into five years at minimum wage would have spelled my financial ruination – or the end of my aliyah. So in my mind I did what I had to.
Some olim, by contrast, take a much more critical view. I should have fought vigorously to contest the exemption notice. I can’t help but think that many of those making the suggestion were making the false assumption that, were I to do so, I would be supported financially by my family. My family, justifiably in my view, would have no desire to subsidize my tenure as a mouthpiece for the Israeli Army (and, as an outspoken critic of the futility of hasbara, I cannot help but think that it would have made for an awful match!).
I do wonder how this is perceived professionally and suspect that it might be a major hindrance to my career should I choose to stay in Israel.
But, no, I do not regret what happened.
