Three former Israeli soldiers shared personal accounts of their service in the Israeli army Wednesday night at the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life. The discussion ranged in topic from Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza strip to the Abu Ghraib prison scandals.

The soldiers’ discussion was a part of Hillel’s Israelfest, a week-long recognition of Israel, said Israelfest co-chair Carly Mangel, a sophomore international relations major.

The former Israeli soldiers were part of a volunteer organization called Israel at Heart, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting Israel and telling first hand accounts of life in Israel, said Yael Bartur, 23, a volunteer.

Three years of service in the Israeli Defense Force is mandatory for all Israeli citizens after they turn 18.

‘In Israel, people are waiting to join the army,’ said former Top Sgt. Eli Rata.

Bartur said she did not feel out of place in the Israeli army. Women are allowed to occupy almost any post in the Israeli army.

‘All the women go into the military in Israel so you don’t feel like a minority,’ she said. ‘There’s not really discrimination in the army.’

Israel’s mandatory service requirement is because of Israel’s relations with neighboring countries, Bartur said.

‘Our army is very small in comparison to that of our neighbors,’ Bartur said.

Bartur became a spokesperson for the Israeli army when she enlisted, she said. Bartur said she believed in being a spokeswoman for the Israeli army, but it was difficult as well.

‘IDF is not an easy job for PR,’ Bartur said. ‘It’s very bad when there’s a tank in front of a kid.’

Former First Class Sgt. Daniel Farber, 24, said he had to go into Palestinian homes sometimes to root out terrorists.

‘When you’re using a gun, your job is to guard the sanctity of life on both sides,’ he said. ‘We had to decide between good and evil in about two seconds.’

Bartur said she hopes Israel will someday be able to not require mandatory service.

‘If it wasn’t mandatory, a lot of people wouldn’t do it,’ Farber said. He added, ‘The second that there’s a problem and there needs to be volunteers they would come.’

The three soldiers were divided in their opinion of Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza strip.

‘For every soldier’s life that we can save, we should get out of there,’ Bartur said.

Farber and Rata said they were against pulling out.

‘Now there’s going to be a stronger terrorist network in Gaza,’ Farber said.

At the discussion, Rata said he grew up in Ethiopia and moved with his family to Israel on foot through Sudan because they could not fly to Israel out of Ethiopia because of poor relations between the two countries. The journey through the Sudanese desert took three months.

Rata and his family were captured by Sudanese troops and held in a refugee camp, he said. He and his family slept on the ground and were given very little water, he said.

‘It was the everyday life for one year,’ Rata said.

A U.S. and Israel joint operation called Moses Operation rescued the refugees and brought them to Israel, Rata said.

‘They just fall down out of the plane and kissed the ground,’ Rata said regarding the refugees arrival in Israel.

Syracuse University Air Force ROTC was also in attendance and compared the nature of the United States’ military to that of Israel.

‘We all have the same values and morals,’ Bartur said.

The last event for Israelfest will be an Israeli Shabbat Friday at 6 p.m. at the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life, Mangel said.

Published on April 13, 2005 at 12:00 pm