Last update - 00:00 06/12/2007
Reservists refuse to take part in drill due to base conditions
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Reservist soldiers from an Israel Defense Forces Infantry Corps company refused on Thursday to participate in a battalion drill at the Ze'elim training base in the Negev.
The soldiers refusal came in protest of logistical conditions at the base, and over what they termed unsuitable treatment of their complaints by commanders.
This sort of protest by reserve units is a rare phenomenon, and IDF sources said the matter would be investigated.
The soldiers, who belong to the Jordan Valley Brigade, conducted a company drill at Ze'elim on Wednesday. They said that they had made several complains over the last week regarding the lack of heaters in their tents during the cold desert nights.
The soldiers also complained over delays in the arrivals of vehicles to transport them to training.
On Thursday morning, after several serious hitches relating to transportation, the soldiers refused to participate in a company drill.
The matter will be investigated by the Ze'elim Commander Brigadier General Guy Zur, who up until several weeks ago served as commander of the 162nd division, to which the battalion belongs, and by the Jordan Valley Brigade commander, Colonel Yigal Slovik.
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