Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 5:41 am Post subject: Israeli army going through an image crisis |
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By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Israel's army is going through its worst image crisis in decades, with generals quitting over the Lebanon war and hand-wringing over an offensive in Gaza after artillery shelling killed 19 Palestinian civilians.
A poll this month showed more than half of Israelis feel the army provides only minimal or mediocre security. Half the respondents doubted the credibility of a military long held in the highest esteem by most citizens of the Jewish state.
The survey, by an institute headed by a prominent reservist general, contradicted past findings of wide public support for the army, in which most men and many women over 18 serve.
Experts point to a steady erosion of the unqualified backing for the army that most Israelis used to show and signs that some even think twice about doing compulsory service.
"If Israel doesn't address some of the shortcomings exposed in the war last summer, the next time a crisis like that comes up much of the army simply won't show up," Oren said.
"I can envisage a situation where the government will throw a war and nobody will come."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12882399.htm
[One must be careful that the U.S. army does not go through this.] |
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