„A battalion of soldiers crawls across the desert sand with assault rifles cocked. It’s a routine exercise, but these are no ordinary troops – they are Arabs who have chosen to fight for the Jewish state. While the vast majority of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are Jews – and nearly all their conflicts have been against Arab nations – a trickle of Israeli Arabs volunteer for the army. (…)
‚Why did I decide to enlist?‘ asks Sergeant Yusef Salutta, a 20-year-old Arab from the north of Israel who serves with the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion. The army rarely grants journalists access to the unit.
‚Because I’m from this country and I love the country and I want to contribute,‘ he said. ‚Everyone should enlist, anybody who lives here should enlist.‘
The military conscripts young Jewish men and women, but not Arabs. It does not report exact numbers of Arab volunteers, but officials say there are several hundred among the 175,000 active personnel.“ (Rinat Harash: „In bid to belong, Israeli Arabs sign up for Israel’s army“)
