RISHON LEZION, Israel — After high school, nearly all men and women here go into mandatory military service. Males serve for three years; women for two. But until the age of forty, all former enlistees are eligible for reserve duty if the need ever arises.
Now, with Israel battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip, everyone here can get a phone call telling them to report to a particular base within twelve hours. No one knows who will be called and who will not. (People who were in an infantry unit, of course, have a larger chance than those who had a desk job.)
The reactions of people I know are varied. One guy I know hopes to be called even though he has a broken arm. He loves his country, and as a commander, he would be able to order anyone to do anything that he cannot. He would not even tell the IDF about his condition.
Another guy told me about a telephone call he had with a friend. The friend called him from a phone whose number did not register on Caller ID, so the first guy did not answer the call. When he finally contacted him, my friend told him, “Don’t you know I don’t pick up ‘Unknown’ calls during a war?” Evidently, when the IDF calls, the number does not show up.
A friend of mine, a woman, is a military medic for her post-high school service. Most of the time, she once told me, she merely treats blisters and other minor, frequent conditions. She volunteered to go to Gaza because she wants to gain experience with treating significant injuries — one day, she wants to be a doctor. The IDF sent her to a part of Israel near the border.
As I see how Israelis act during a conflict, it seems that everyone’s eyes are glued to two things: the news on television and their mobile phones.
