Sherut Leumi

Sherut Leumi (Hebrew: שירות לאומי‎‎, lit. National Service) is an alternative voluntary national service in Israel for those that cannot or do not wish to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. The majority who receive an exemption from the obligatory army service are Jewish women from the Religious Zionist sector, and they receive it by declaring religious observance, as they maintain that a large number of religious observances for women cannot be upheld in the military, such as dress codes and modesty issues. However, there are also a small number of men who serve in Sherut Leumi. Volunteers are between the ages of 18 and 21. Sherut Leumi gives young women (and occasionally young men) exposure to a number of environments in Israeli society. Service typically requires working 30–40 hours/week over 12 to 24 months. Volunteers have the option of doing either one or two years of the National Service. Not all volunteers are Israeli citizens. It can be done on a tourist visa, and the volunteer will later receive a special volunteer visa that lasts as long as the person will be doing their service.

Young people in other sectors of Israeli society receive exemptions from the military. These include mainly Haredi men who maintain that Torah study is the main practice for defending Israel; they are exempted under the Torato Omanuto arrangements. Arab citizens of Israel are also exempted, in order to avoid a conflict between allegiance to their country and to their Arab brothers (a decision originally taken by Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion). Historically, very few did, but in recent years, the number of Arab youths volunteering for national service has increased. Some Israeli conscientious objectors who object to serving in the army, but are not eligible for an exemption, have voiced a wish to do an alternative form of national service instead.

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