Avoidance of Military Service in Israel: Exploring the Role of Discourse

Abstract

This study examines the use of the derogatory term mishtamtim (literally, 'shirkers') for Israeli citizens who do not serve in the military, as employed in a variety of widely circulating cultural texts and in several focus group discussions. I suggest that in addition to revealing and reflecting Israeli society's dominant views and opinions on military service and its relation to civil society, the inherent ambiguity of the mishtamtim label enables interlocutors to construct different notions of the Israeli collective, which are then translated into different patterns of inclusion and exclusion, hierarchies of citizenship, and disciplinary meas ures. In addition, the discursive construction of non-service as avoidance of participation in a symbolic, non-violent, civilianized, and benevolent contribution to the collective conceals the military's own tendency to discharge conscripts, as well as its inherently violent nature and the role that violence plays in providing the glue that keeps society together.

Inclusion through Exclusion

“…In the last decade or two, the dominant ideology of political Zionism has been challenged by several developments: among other things the "social upward mobility" (Fishman 2004: 58) of lower social classes, in particular that of Sephardim 2 (ibid. ), a growing pluralism characterised by the growing demand of segments of Israeli society peripheral to power to gain recognition (Livio 2012) and tendencies to avoid military service (ibid.). Finally, the arrival of large numbers of immigrants-in particular from FSU countrieswho "lack the Zionist history of life" (Fishman 2004: 61) have additionally challenged the Zionist "national ethos of home-coming" (Golden 2002; e.g.…”

“…In Ilan's view, the cleavage between political rightwing and political left-wing is simultaneously a generational cleavage. In Ilan's opinion this is due to the fact that "young people face the political reality during their military service" (Livio 2012), 1 and (also as a causal effect of their recent service) are more interested in politics while their parents' generation either tend to forget their experiences, make their peace with them or may have other, everyday worries. In sum, political rightwingers, i.e.…”

“…Accordingly, the interviewees' emphasis on military service of all possibilities to contribute can be read against the background of recent developments in Israeli society with regard to diminishing the absolute value of military service in Israeli society and what Levy calls "the violation of the Republican equation" (Levy 2011: 40). In this context, in the Israeli public discourse, the notion of "mishtamtim" (Livio 2012) has appeared, i.e. individual (Jewish) citizens who dodge their military service for various reasons.…”

Competing ethical regimes in a diverse society: Israeli military refusers

“…The state's discursive framing of nonservice justifies inclusion in and exclusion from citizenship. This greatly affects groups like Israel's Palestinian citizens, whose exemption from service, supposedly a benevolent consideration, relegates them to a lower tier of citizenship and accompanying rights (Livio ).…”

Avoiding Military Service in a Militaristic Society: A Chronicle of Resistance to Hegemonic Masculinity

“…Despite the fact that these men were legally released from military service, public discourse in Israel tends to ascribe to them the use of illegitimate means and the "faking" of psychological problems to evade their civic duty; as such, they are classified under the generalized label of mishtamtim (literally "shirkers" and the Hebrew equivalent of draft dodgers). 1 Avoiders of military service in Israel provide a particular case for examining masculine identities that emerge from the encounter between militaristic societies and posthegemonic, cosmopolitan trends. As men who grew up in a militaristic society, their decision not to serve in the military embodies a distancing from societal norms and a blatant challenge to the local hegemonic masculinity.…”