Outstanding athlete status in the IDF is one of the most coveted positions, and it is sparingly given to only a few hundred outstanding athletes a year.
Those athletes, and especially their parents, argue that the terms of service do not allow them to maintain an adequate training routine.
As a result, their professional level is declining and their achievement potential is significantly impaired.
The immediate result of military service is the retirement of quite a few outstanding athletes from achievement sports, a fact that in the end also harms the quality of athletes in the State of Israel in general.
Brief background: The IDF currently recruits athletes according to three classes - active, outstanding and promoted. Each class requires different achievements, and receives different conditions of service. In 2020, approximately 670 to 710 outstanding athletes served in the IDF each year. In 2021, there was a significant increase in the number of outstanding athletes, which stood at 764. This year, 73% of the athletes were active athletes, 25% were outstanding athletes. And 2% were defined as lifts, with 21% of standards assigned to women in 2021.
The IDF Ordinance regarding the conditions of service of active and outstanding athletes stipulates, among other things, that such a soldier be placed at a base that is not more than 60 km from his training facility.
An outstanding athlete will serve up to six hours of activity a day, and an active athlete two full days and another three short days, up to six hours of activity.
The athlete can go on a special leave of up to 90 days, in Israel or abroad, for the purpose of representing the state, and he can also request a postponement of service of up to 120 days for the purpose of training and competitions.
But the orders are separate - and the reality is separate.
"It was to go to the most significant service or to be an outstanding athlete, and to serve the country in a different, but no less important way," says Nofar, 20, an outstanding athlete in the field of road riding who graduated from the IDF about three months ago. And I enlisted in the ICT Corps in February 2020. At first I was sent to the Samson camp, more than 80 km from my house, contrary to orders. Including walking. "
Not suitable for athletes
According to Nofar, the distances prevented her from continuing to train.
"To meet the training quota, I have to train four hours of training a day. The service did not allow me to do that. I would get up at four in the morning, train, run home, and instead of doing stretching and drinking my protein properly, I would run fast to get to base, I would sit there for six hours and just do nothing. We were four soldiers in charge of a pretty small and not really active warehouse. "Home crying. I do not remember a harder time than that. In the end I did not contribute to the country, and I was also hurt. This period just stopped me, if all this did not happen, I would be somewhere else today. I lost a year of training."
T., who is involved in sports as part of a quartet, also encounters problems.
"In the quartet we are two soldiers, me and another one," he says. We flew to a world championship where we won. "
"My daughter is gearing up for the Olympics," adds Nava Satyu-Levi, a mother of an outstanding athlete. "She won the European Championship at the end of the month, and she went through an entire saga to get a vacation. This girl represents the State of Israel."
She added: "My husband and I are former military personnel. This framework, in its current format, is simply not suitable for outstanding athletes."
Do good with athletes.
MK Davidson, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"In the end, the recruitment does not allow the athletes to maintain a training routine and a desired level of training," Adv. Vered Desha, a former athlete and mother of athletes serving in the army, told Israel Today. "During recovery between training sessions, it makes it difficult for them to maintain a high level of dedicated physical fitness, impairs their ability and skill and, as a result, their ability to achieve results."
By the way, according to the Knesset Research and Information Center, the problems begin even before the service.
The process of recruiting and serving the outstanding athletes makes it very difficult for the unions to know in advance how many of their athletes will receive athlete status.
Some unions even claim that they are not getting enough allocations, which makes it difficult for them to grow.
Another difficulty stems from the criteria required by the military, which do not always allow every athlete to gain status, even if he or she has significant potential.
MK Simon Davidson, who asked the research center for the report, notes: "I sincerely hope that the important document of the MMM will help to rethink the service of outstanding athletes in the IDF, one that will benefit society and the athletes themselves."
The IDF spokesman said: "The athletes' service includes mitigating conditions of service.
In addition, a work plan is being formulated in order to redefine the status of the athlete, with the aim of producing a service plan that is also adapted to athletes with an Olympic affinity.
"Following staff work, which aims to increase the number of standards for athletes in the army, the number of female and male athletes in the IDF stands at about 800, and this is a record number."
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