This kid offers the most inane reason for opting-out of military service in Israel.

To many she is a traitor, a coward and a parasite. But 17-year-old Israeli "draft dodger" Saar Vardi says if more people thought like her, the Middle East would be a more peaceful place.

Vardi is part of a growing group of young Israelis who are refusing to sign up for mandatory military service, often in protest over the Jewish state's occupation of Palestinian territory or because of last year's unpopular war in Lebanon.

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"People refer to me as a traitor and say that my country has given me so much and I'm not willing to give anything back, like a parasite," Vardi, a student, told Reuters.

"But I know what I believe ... If truly everyone saw things the way I see them then we wouldn't need an army."

Actually, Saar Vardi has it wrong – if everyone saw things like she does, then there would not be an Israel. Maybe the lack of a major fight for the survival of Israel since 1973 has resulted in a weakening in the resolve of that nation’s young people to ensure their homeland’s survival. Maybe distance from the Holocaust has made the notion that Jews must fight for survival an alien thought. But regardless, I fear for the future of Israel in a sea of hostile neighbors.

Posted by: Greg at 01:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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