Against the background of the corona virus and the tightening of the conditions for obtaining a mental exemption from service, in the last year there has been a dramatic increase in the number of young men who evade the IDF, that is: do not report to the recruiting offices on the day of their enlistment. Data obtained by "Israel Hayom" indicates that in 2020 approximately 2,500-2,400 evaded the IDF young people, while in 2021 the Emir increased the number of evaders to about 3,100 young people.
Since the year 2022 has not yet ended, there is no data yet regarding the current year, but even in the recruitment of last March there were several dozen young people who did not report to the BKOM on the day of their recruitment.
The personnel department of the army estimates that the main reason for the increase in the number of evaders is, of course, the corona epidemic, which left the youth in their homes for many months.
Due to the many closures and remote learning, many teenagers were seriously hurt, and some decided to "kick the establishment" and simply stay at home.
68% are motivated for combat service, photo: IDF spokesman
In addition, due to the Corona epidemic and the reluctance of the top of the army to expose the soldiers to unnecessary encounters with the civilian population, in recent years the IDF has reduced the enforcement of the phenomenon of evasion and few operations to catch the evaders. The lack of space in the military prisons also contributed to the reduction in the number of operations. Enforcement is a significant deterrent against evaders.
The IDF further explains that after a period in which there was a significant increase in the number of young men who received mental health exemptions from military service, the Human Resources Department decided to take a series of actions to reduce mental health dropouts. As a result, among other things, the criteria for receiving mental health exemptions were tightened , and as of today, the mental discharge from service is less than 9%. The actions to reduce the dropout from service on mental grounds caused young men, who until now would have tried their luck to be released from service on mental grounds, to choose not to report to the recruiting offices on the day of their enlistment.
The IDF is very concerned about the increase in the number of evaders, photo: Gideon Markovich
Conviction from the first order
The IDF is very concerned about the phenomenon of the increase in the number of evaders - not necessarily about the numbers themselves (which are not large in relation to the recruitment potential in each yearbook), but about the trend they point to. The big concern is that if the appropriate steps are not taken to deal with the phenomenon, the number of evaders will only increase.
As requested, the IDF Personnel Division formulated a plan aimed at significantly reducing the number of IDF evaders.
This is the reason that in the near future the military police will hold quite a few operations to return evaders to the army, and the plan is that once every few weeks such an operation will take place.
It is likely that those operations will also receive media coverage.
In addition to this, about a year ago the IDF established the "Magashim" unit, whose members, among other things, visit the homes of young people who do not attend the first order sent to them in the mail, in order to convince the young people and their parents to come to the recruiting offices. Thanks to the unit's activities, the army was able to reduce by - 8% the number of young men who do not show up for the first order. The IDF intends to expand the unit and hope that they will be able to reduce the failure to show up for the first order by 20%.
Enlisting in the BCOM (for illustration), photo: Koko
Also, the recruitment bureaus throughout the country were instructed to hold operations to convince evaders to report.
In this framework, the bureaus make contact with those evaders who have not reported for service during the past year, and offer them a "deal": the young men will enlist, and in return, if they perform proper and full service, the army will erase their evasion offense.
At the same time, the personnel department understands that desertion from the army can be further reduced by increasing the motivation of the youth to enlist in the army, and invests a great deal of effort in preparing for the IDF. The intention is mainly to increase activity through the local authorities, who will encourage the youth to enlist in the army with the help of the education system .
Encouraging recruitment is also intended to provide an answer to the problematic phenomenon that the IDF has been dealing with in recent years, which is the decline in motivation for combat service. Surveys conducted by the army among the IDF before recruitment show that the motivation of the youth to serve in the IDF ranges around 70% of the men who have the potential to be recruited for combat service, And in the current recruitment cycle, it stands at only 68.6%.
In recent years, the IDF has stopped publishing the figure, and this is in light of the claim that it is a figure that does not reflect the motivation of the youth to come to combat after their enlistment, because then, according to the army, the figures improve miraculously.
BMC is increasing activity
An IDF spokesperson stated in response: "Recruitment to the IDF is a mandatory recruitment that obliges all eligible residents of the country to enlist in the service. The IDF acts hard against those who break the law and choose to evade military service.
Recently, the Human Resources Division initiated the 'at your disposal' model program, within the framework of which a wide range of programs are implemented in the various authorities in order to create a formal dialogue between the army and the militias as early as the secondary level, with the aim of encouraging significant recruitment among them.
"In addition to these efforts, the military police are working even harder with the aim of arresting those who evade military service, so that they will serve in the army or regulate their status as required," the response stated.
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