Israeli citizens have to serve in the army. If they’re religious, and being in the army would represent an undue hardship or challenge their faith, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) permit them to do an alternate service program, which many religious girls do instead. Some of my religious Israeli relatives have worked as nurse’s aides, taught in schools in developing neighborhoods, or worked with new émigrés in absorption centers.
But according to this article in Ynet, IDF statistics reveal that 44% of all Israeli girls do not enlist– 53% of them on religious grounds. However, the IDF has begun to suspect that not all of these girls actually lead the kind of religious lifestyle that would entitle them to do national service instead of army service. If the girls in question study at religious schools, they are granted the national service option. But if they claim to be religious and study at secular schools, they’ll be called in for an interview/in-person clarification. And why would the Israeli government suspect a religious girl of being not so religious? Because of her Facebook profile:
[W]hile soldiers from the IDF Human Resources were surfing the internet, they came across the girl’s Facebook account–from which it was clear she does not lead anything remotely resembling a religious lifestyle–partying on Shabbat and dressing in a decidedly non-conservative manner.
The girl tried to appeal the IDF’s decision to enlist her, demanding the Ministry of Defense honor her original claim. To her dismay, the appeal was denied and she was ordered to prepare to be drafted.
Be religious if that’s who you are. But don’t fake it. Because the IDF and Mark Zuckerberg know it all.
