Last update - 00:00 17/07/2007
IDF: Number of youths exempt from army at several-year high
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
A quarter of draft-aged Israelis do not enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, according to data released by the army Monday.
Of the 26 percent of 18-year-olds freed from mandatory military service, about 11 percent claimed religious exemption based on the concept of Jewish study as a vocation.
The August 2007 "entering class" is the smallest of the past several years, at least in part due to the rise of over 1 percent in the number of religious Jews who opt out of military service.
The number of volunteers for combat units dropped by 1.5 percent from the August 2006 draft.
Col. Amir Rogovski, commander of Meytav, the Draft Management and Recruitment Unit, said on Monday that last summer's war in Lebanon may have affected combat unit numbers, noting that in last November's draft the figures were unusually high.
Among combat units excluding the voluntary paratroopers brigade, Golani was the most popular choice among enlisters, followed by Nahal and Givati, Israel radio reported.
The armor and artillery corps. were the least popular among those recruited to combat positions.