The Forward newspaper correctly reports in its issue of January 3, 2003 ("Fund Fights Charge of Aiding 'Deserters'") that Israel Resource News Agency has exposed the fact that the Shefa Fund in Philadelphia is funding those groups in Israel - such as Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse - that advocate desertion from the IDF. The issue will now reverberate in Israel, since it is not generally known that a diaspora Jewish organization stands behind the campaign to encourage IDF troops to disobey orders.
The only legal expert that the Forward chose to interview for its article on the topic was one of the people who openly supports the desertion campaign advocated by the Shefa beneficiaries. However, there are other legal opinions that the Forward could have solicited, especially in light of the fact that on December 31, 2002, Israel's liberal High Court of Justice unanimously threw out the petition of eight IDF soldiers who claimed a right to refuse to serve on moral and legal grounds.
Furthermore, in the Forward article, the Shefa Fund and their client organizations make several specious claims in their defense. First of all, the Shefa Fund web site itself reports that it provided $160,000 to the Israeli deserters? groups over the past year, and not the amounts stated in the Forwardarticle ($72,000). Yesh Gvul spokesperson, Ram Rahat-Goodman and Courage to Refuse spokesman Amit Mashiah told the Forward that "their organizations do not encourage soldiers to refuse to serve in the territories" , which is patently ridiculous. Both organizations organize a well-financed public relations campaign openly encouraging both new IDF inductees and reserve IDF soldiers to refuse to serve.
Why do the spokespersons not have the courage to stand behind their own organizations?
They represent themselves to the Forward as if they run some kind of confidential counseling service (Deserters Anonymous?), while their actual modus operandi is expressed in their public rallies, leaflets, billboards, TV appearances, press conferences and e-mails. All of which unabashedly calls for IDF soldiers to desert their units if they are called to serve in places where they do not agree to do so. The Forward also makes no mention of the fact that Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse use donations from the Shefa Fund to offer financial incentives for any IDF soldier who will desert his unit rather than serve beyond the ?Green Line? in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, Gush Katif or the Golan Heights. Until last week, the web site of the Courage to Refuse organization announced that it would use donations to cover the costs of child care, tuition, mortgage payments and legal fees for those who would refuse to serve. It is most instructive to note that the Courage to Refuse organization removed these offers of remuneration from their web site while the article in the Forward was in preparation. Is that not called "tampering with the evidence"?
On New Years Eve in Israel, Yesh Gvul mailed out fund-raising brochures informing their contributors that their organization will offer potential IDF deserters a stipend of $750 a month for refusing to serve. That figure can be considerably more than a typical reservist would receive from the National Insurance Institute (the government body that pays reservists? salaries during their service) for a normal stint in the IDF reserves.
The Shefa Fund in Philadelphia and their support groups in Israel have therefore made it possible to refuse to serve in the IDF without suffering any economic consequences of such a decision. At a time of economic difficulties in Israel, it has now become a financially beneficial enterprise to desert the IDF and to "refuse to serve". That is what we call a financial incentive for IDF desertion, thanks to the Shefa Fund.
Who ever said that crime does not pay?
The Shefa Fund, Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse may be in for a surprise and soon face their day in court. The former Israel cabinet secretary and attorney Gideon Saar has written that the Israeli criminal penal code defines inciting IDF soldiers to disobey orders as a felony crime, which carries a penalty of seven years in jail upon conviction. As a result, the Israel State Prosecutor's Office is considering taking legal action against organizations that have been conducting the current high-profile campaign to encourage soldiers to desert the IDF.
The question remains: Will the Shefa Fund organizers have the courage of their convictions to stand trial in Israel, or will they continue to tell IDF troops to disobey orders from their diaspora peanut gallery in the comfortable Germantown community in Philadelphia?
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David Bedein is Bureau Chief of the Israel Resource News Agency, located in Beit Agron International Press Center, Jerusalem (www.IsraelBehindtheNews.com).
The only legal expert that the Forward chose to interview for its article on the topic was one of the people who openly supports the desertion campaign advocated by the Shefa beneficiaries. However, there are other legal opinions that the Forward could have solicited, especially in light of the fact that on December 31, 2002, Israel's liberal High Court of Justice unanimously threw out the petition of eight IDF soldiers who claimed a right to refuse to serve on moral and legal grounds.
Furthermore, in the Forward article, the Shefa Fund and their client organizations make several specious claims in their defense. First of all, the Shefa Fund web site itself reports that it provided $160,000 to the Israeli deserters? groups over the past year, and not the amounts stated in the Forwardarticle ($72,000). Yesh Gvul spokesperson, Ram Rahat-Goodman and Courage to Refuse spokesman Amit Mashiah told the Forward that "their organizations do not encourage soldiers to refuse to serve in the territories" , which is patently ridiculous. Both organizations organize a well-financed public relations campaign openly encouraging both new IDF inductees and reserve IDF soldiers to refuse to serve.
Why do the spokespersons not have the courage to stand behind their own organizations?
They represent themselves to the Forward as if they run some kind of confidential counseling service (Deserters Anonymous?), while their actual modus operandi is expressed in their public rallies, leaflets, billboards, TV appearances, press conferences and e-mails. All of which unabashedly calls for IDF soldiers to desert their units if they are called to serve in places where they do not agree to do so. The Forward also makes no mention of the fact that Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse use donations from the Shefa Fund to offer financial incentives for any IDF soldier who will desert his unit rather than serve beyond the ?Green Line? in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, Gush Katif or the Golan Heights. Until last week, the web site of the Courage to Refuse organization announced that it would use donations to cover the costs of child care, tuition, mortgage payments and legal fees for those who would refuse to serve. It is most instructive to note that the Courage to Refuse organization removed these offers of remuneration from their web site while the article in the Forward was in preparation. Is that not called "tampering with the evidence"?
On New Years Eve in Israel, Yesh Gvul mailed out fund-raising brochures informing their contributors that their organization will offer potential IDF deserters a stipend of $750 a month for refusing to serve. That figure can be considerably more than a typical reservist would receive from the National Insurance Institute (the government body that pays reservists? salaries during their service) for a normal stint in the IDF reserves.
The Shefa Fund in Philadelphia and their support groups in Israel have therefore made it possible to refuse to serve in the IDF without suffering any economic consequences of such a decision. At a time of economic difficulties in Israel, it has now become a financially beneficial enterprise to desert the IDF and to "refuse to serve". That is what we call a financial incentive for IDF desertion, thanks to the Shefa Fund.
Who ever said that crime does not pay?
The Shefa Fund, Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse may be in for a surprise and soon face their day in court. The former Israel cabinet secretary and attorney Gideon Saar has written that the Israeli criminal penal code defines inciting IDF soldiers to disobey orders as a felony crime, which carries a penalty of seven years in jail upon conviction. As a result, the Israel State Prosecutor's Office is considering taking legal action against organizations that have been conducting the current high-profile campaign to encourage soldiers to desert the IDF.
The question remains: Will the Shefa Fund organizers have the courage of their convictions to stand trial in Israel, or will they continue to tell IDF troops to disobey orders from their diaspora peanut gallery in the comfortable Germantown community in Philadelphia?
--------------------------------------------------------
David Bedein is Bureau Chief of the Israel Resource News Agency, located in Beit Agron International Press Center, Jerusalem (www.IsraelBehindtheNews.com).