Should You Join The IDF?

A.H.

The Draft Issue

If you are here, on the website of Tzevet Mikey, this is probably the question running through your mind right now. This is not a small decision, and not one to be taken lightly. The main question you need to ask yourself is why. Why do you want to draft? Why do you want to suffer through endless hard, wet, cold nights? Why do you want to stand guard in a watch tower night after night for years? Why do you want to be screwed over by a system that won’t care about you or your needs?

If you want to draft to look cool for Instagram or maybe because your life doesn’t have any real direction right now, and hey: this sounds nice; you will likely have a miserable experience. The consequences are real. The IDF is difficult and demoralizing for most Israelis, forget about foreigners. Without a strong reason and will to uphold it, your service will not go well for you, the people around you, or the army you are serving.

Zionism, a personal challenge, a call to action to defend the one Jewish country, these are all good reasons to draft. The hard part is the honest self reflection that it takes to really understand yourself and your motives for drafting. And if you get it wrong –and people have gotten it wrong, don’t think it can’t happen to you– it will likely be a very miserable two and a half years.

There is no shortage of (Lone) Soldiers who are disgruntled and angered by their service. (Lone) Soldiers who didn’t perform well, who became depressed, committed suicide, or just became angry and miserable throughout the entirety of their service. This is precisely why you need to take an honest, mature moment of self reflection and really understand why you’re thinking about doing this.

I have met people who told me that even though their service was difficult, and at times they got wronged by the army, they still enjoyed it and they look back on it as a great service for Israel and some of the best years of their life. And I have met people who rant and rave about the army and regret ever doing it. After a while I noticed certain similarities to each side.

The people who were happy with their service, when presented with an obstacle (whether it be getting dropped from an elite unit, getting told they weren’t allowed to fly home, injuries, horrible commanders etc.) instead of complaining they’d suck it up as best they could, because at the end of the day they understood it’s not about them, it’s about the army and the larger picture of accomplishing what the army needs to do even when it seems stupid or unfair. With that mentality and an overwhelming amount of will, they were able to power through the hardships and emerge on the other side with a smile.

The people who were always complaining and miserable, were the ones with no real motivation. Due to that, whenever a difficulty would arise they would complain about how “things weren’t fair” and one thing would lead to another, making for a very long and miserable service. There was always something to complain about, and zero reasons to take the brunt of all those things and keep going.

The only difference between the two is mentality. Everyone goes through extreme challenges in the army. Only those with the strength and the reason to persevere will do so. So think carefully about what you want to do, a wrong decision can cost you a lot. Be honest with yourself, and do what’s right for you. The stakes are too high to make the wrong choice.

My best practical advice to anyone thinking about drafting is to start preparing now and see if you have the motivation. Start practicing your Hebrew along with improving your physical and mental strength. If you’re in Israel, start going to Tzevet Mikey. See if you find yourself motivated to work hard and to do what you need to do. Or maybe you find yourself not motivated to do any of those things, which is fine, then this is just not right for you.