Prison Week

Despite my unease over the ubiquitous presence of loaded M16s being shouldered by 18 year old kids everywhere I go, there are no shortages of political conversation to be had with the casual Israeli, since practically everyone from the bus driver to the CEO has served in the IDF. [1] Israelis I've spoken to during the past month or so I've been here share the commonly held view that their military service is at worst, a necessary evil. Naturally, everyone has some fascinating stories about their time in service to impart to foreigners struggling to understand just why the hell things are the way they are here.

My friend Omer, whom I'd met in Southern China last year [2] graced me a bed to sleep on in his apartment in Tel Aviv for nearly a month. Along with his roomate Tomil (who had served in the Special Forces) they both filled my head nightly with sheesah (sic?) and stories from the army before I fell asleep to the busy traffic of Salame Street. Tomil's command of English is generally quite good with the slight exception of a few Spoonerisms [3], so I'll attempt to transcribe one of his stories from my notes as best as I can:

"In the Special Forces, they tell you, after you finish all their tests and you get in, you will do a special exercise, and that is the first and last time you hear about it and you don't get any explanation. I had been training for nearly 8 months after this, completely forgetting these words. One day I was doing a field exercise up in the Golan (bordering Syria) with some of my fellow soldiers, and then like out of thin air all of them had disppeared and I could not get them on the radio. Four men wearing black masks and clothing knocked me to the earth and then put a bag over my head and dragged me to a helicopter. I screamed but could not be heard over the chopping of the helicopter, and all I could make out was Arabic words. After an hour I was thrown in a car or van and was driven around for some time how long I cannot say. When the car stopped, I walked for a while then I was beaten and had my hood removed. I was at a cave and was thrown into a small corner which had steel bars around it like a makeshift cell. I tried to sleep but every time I fell asleep on the ground someone would come by and yell at me in Arabic and beat me in the head or throw water on me. They had a megaphone in the opposite corner of the cave which randomly blurted out Arabic, which also kept me awake, but I learned to drown it out. After some time I was masked again thrown into a car and driven around. Then I walked for a while and then I was made to sit into a chair when my hood was removed. The room was white and a man wearing a Syrian officer uniform began speaking to me. There was another man, also Arab, who translated for me into Hebrew. The officer said to me: "We already know everything about your operation and division, we just need you to tell us whatever you know to confirm the details." I complied, and told him everything I knew. [4] This pattern of going to the cave and going to the white room continued for like months. I could never sleep in the cave because they would beat me and you shit in a corner of the cell and ate some bread and water every few days. Eventually I was released and brought back to the Golan Heights base, where I was greeted by my commanding officer, who told me I had successfully passed Prison Week."

Apparently, all Special Forces recruits go through this, and it is in fact exactly 7 days to the hour of simulated prison. Tomil told me it felt like months and months of imprisonment, and even 3 years later, the effects of this 'training' have had a longstanding impression on him. I gather that as my fourth footnote explains, the Israeli army must maintain a strong reputation for doing absolutely everything in their power to bring soldiers back if they are ever captured. Otherwise, more potentials would find ways to avoid service, or once enlisted, decide to desert once tensions got too high when engaging the enemy. Interestingly enough, there is a story that has been recirculating in the Israeli news regarding an Israeli soldier named Gilad Shalit who was captured during the 2006 Lebanese War. He is currently being held in Gaza. (http://www.imemc.org/article/52587) Hamas is asking for the release of several political Palestinian refugees in exchange for his safe return.

Look at his picture on the link I posted above - he's a kid. And that's the situation here: you have to deal with the fact that men and women (biologically speaking) are immediately drafted into the army after high school. For some of my friends reading this now, and for the baby boomer generation also reading this, I want you to think long and hard about the person you were, and friends and fellow graduates you knew when you graduated from high school. Did anyone really grasp the gravity of the world they lived in at such an age or even really comprehend the depth of their own insecurities? How could you possibly be armed with a gun and told to shoot to kill at such an age?? This is the world they live in where they feel they have to do it, the necessary evil. Go through simulated prison, and gain the fortitude to know that somehow everything will be all right if they put their trust in the nation.



1. Israel requires all males and females, once they are 18, to join the Israeli Defence Force (its national military service) for a minimum of 2-3 years. Only those who are deemed psychologically unfit, dedicated to special Torah studies, or can prove they are pacifists are exempt.

2. The attitude of Israelis, post-service, is to pack up their shit and go backpacking for approximately 8-12 months anywhere in the world that isn't Arab or Israel. When I backpacked through South-east Asia and China, the most common nationality of backpackers I met in hostels and on buses/boats where Israelis. Upon questioning many of the post-Army Diaspora as to why so many Israelis decided to go backpacking after their service was completed, the general response was: 'you gotta clear your fucking head or you'll go crazy.'

3. Schools in Israel, like most of the non-English speaking countries of the world, introduce English grammar and vocabulary in elementary and high school, however they generally don't end up using it until they go backpacking or host Canadians like myself in their homes. Needless to say, Israeli English is excellent, but for some reason, Spoonerisms pop up everywhere and constantly keep me in stitches - "Go and shake a tower" ("take a shower") and "a well-boiled icicle" ("well-oiled bicycle") are some of the most memorable ones I've heard Tomil say to me. I'm going to Hell I know.

4. IDF Special forces soldiers, upon capture, are taught to tell the enemy what they know rather than play it tough. The first 48 hours of capture are the most crucial hours for Israel to bargain with hostile forces to get their soldiers back. If a captured soldier refuses to cooperate, they are most likely immediately killed. Once intelligence has been given to the enemy, there is an interim period where the information must be confirmed. Once validated, further questions might be asked of the captured soldier, which in turn could buy more precious time.