TAMAR TIKUN SHAVUOT MAY 2013 Experiences from the IDF

Education corps In every unit in the IDF there is a soldier that is responsible for education of knowledge and values. Every platoon has an education officer. Educating commander. As part of the training soldiers and officers go through a “value training” (just like gun training).

A dilemma Imagine you are a soldier- 18 years old, had got out of high school 6 months ago, Went through a few months of training. A Palestinian 30 year old pregnant lady is in labor and wants to go through the check point to a hospital. She seems like she is telling the truth, but she does not have a pass. Do you let her through?

Explosion

In January 14 th 2004 A women who seemed pregnant came to a check point. She went through a magnetic machine and beeped. The soldier told her to step back. She cried and said the beeping was caused by the metal plate on her ankle and showed it to the soldier. The soldier who pitted her situation felt bad, and let her through to the physical checking room. Immediately after stepping into that room she exploded taking the life of that soldier.

No easy answer This is the kind of dilemmas that occur not only once in a while but every day. At some point having to deal with such dilemmas is draining. On top of that soldiers don’t get much sleep, they do these kinds of missions for 8 hours at a time (at least), they are very young, some come from low socio-economic backgrounds, just out of high school, they don’t have much knowledge on the whole history of the conflict est. Being an education officer is finding ways to get the soldiers to know how to deal with these dilemmas in real time.

Being a part of change You can’t always operate automatically. It’s complicated. Arranging a meeting with soldiers and parents who lost a child from the Palestinian side and the Israeli side. Simulations. Knowledge about the conflict. The first time in my life I could feel change happening.

Dilemmas Does being moral interfere with the “mission”. Do I say something when I see immoral behavior from my friend? Being young and having too much power. What is being moral in a conflict/combat situation?