This morning (Friday), the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, visited the tomb of Sheikh Amin Tarif in the village of Julis in the Upper Western Galilee and the Shibli Regional Council, on the occasion of the holiday of Eid Al-Adha.
As part of the visit, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and other senior officers of the General Staff met with representatives of the Druze community, led by the spiritual leader of the community, Sheik Mwafaq Tarif and representatives of the Bedouin community, along with officers of both communities. They talked about integration of minorities in the IDF.
Over the last year there has been an increase of 30 percent in the recruitment to the IDF among the Bedouin community. In addition, during the last year members of the communities joined a wider variety of the IDF's units.
"In order for the IDF to achieve its mission, people of high standards with commitment to action are required and I witness the action of the Druze and Bedouin communities in every visit to the IDF," said The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. "I see the partnership in front of my eyes day after day and hour by hour, the same partnership of the peoples' national army that represents everyone who grew up in Israel and contributes. We need to look back 70 years with pride and look 70 years ahead for a common future. It is no longer integration, it’s a shared responsibility."
"The proof is in the spread of officers from the Druze community, which will only increase, and the increase in the number of Bedouin recruitment," Eisenkot added. "The IDF allows its youth an equal opportunity no matter where you come from and will continue to operate to achieve the concept of the peoples' national army and to integrate all the soldiers of various ethnic groups."
The Head of the Populations Administration, Col. Shadi Abu Fares, explained that the Populations Administration is the body in charge of integrating all minorities into security forces. "We see the 'whole', starting with the recruitment, the service itself and the day after discharge," he explained. "The Populations Administration, along with many good people, sees the recruitment to the IDF as a great platform to integrate into Israeli society. We believe in the strengthening and expansion of the recruitment of minorities to the IDF and we look forward to see soldiers of minorities serve in all the different units."