15. But weren’t you in the Army?
The short answer is no.
As a 31-year-old immigrant, granted full citizenship in 1988, I could be expected to receive a draft notice within a year or two. Adult male immigrants were expected to do a three-month stint in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), and then be available for reserve duty. Back then, the military wasn’t shy about calling up reservists well into their fifties!
The draft notice arrived in 1990, and the army started putting me through the wringer — trips to the recruitment center, medical tests, psychological profiling, aptitude testing… and in the end presented me with a draft date.
As fate would have it, this was the year that marked the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the arrival of a MILLION Russian-speaking immigrants. Suddenly, the IDF was awash in draft-age recruits. What did they need an old guy like me for?
So it wasn’t a huge surprise when I received a notice in the mail that my induction had been postponed, and that I should await further communications… which never arrived.
I felt relieved at the time. I was still not grounded professionally, and was attempting to feel my way into the nascent high-tech economy. Would a three-month absence from the work force deliver a knockout blow to my career aspirations?
Looking back, however, I ask myself whether I should have tried to proactively petition the army to draft me. Besides being in step with the national “everybody serves” ethos, there are genuine upsides to military service. The army is a gateway to opportunity in Israeli society. One meets and gains the trust of worthy people who may eventually become lifelong friends and colleagues.
And most importantly, there’s no shortage of ladies who dig the guys in uniform.
