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Palestinian Christians resist Israeli conscription

Efforts by the Israel Defense Forces to recruit Christian Palestinian youths have raised the ire of Palestinians, who accuse the Orthodox Patriarchate of cooperating with Israel.
A conscript displays his identifying dog tag at the Tel Hashomer Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Recruitment Center near Tel Aviv March 14, 2010. About 500 Israeli men were drafted into the armoured corps on Sunday. Under Israeli law, Jewish men at the age of 18 are required to serve in the army for three years and women for two.   REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY SOCIETY) - RTR2BN27

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Within the Green Line (the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948), there have been attempts to recruit young Christian Palestinian men into joining the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Israel began a conscription campaign and established a forum to recruit Christians in the Israeli military service in August 2012, led by Orthodox priest Gabriel Nadav, who enjoys the support of the Israeli government. He called for the recruitment of young Christians in the occupation’s army before Israel began to call on young men to join the service in April 2014.

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