12 seconds ago 2009-12-04T03:45:02-08:00
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The number of conscripts volunteering to serve in Israeli combat units has risen to a 10-year-high partly as a result of what the army sees as its success in Gaza, Yediot Aharonot said on Friday.
A total of 73 percent of conscripts called up in the second quarter wanted to join combat units, compared with 67.2 percent last year, the newspaper said.
The low was 66.3 percent in 1997.
The daily cited army officials as saying this was partly a result of the turn-of-the-year offensive in the Gaza Strip, seen by Israel as a military success, and also proved recruiters' work in schools was bearing fruit.
The paper also published figures showing about 36 percent of young Israelis were exempted from serving in the armed forces, including a high percentage of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Military service is generally obligatory for Jewish Israelis. Arabs who make up 20 percent of the 7.5 million population are exempted. An exception is made for the Druze -- followers of a breakaway sect of Islam.
