Israel Uncovers Draft-Dodger Bribery Ring, Arrests 6

JERUSALEM — Israeli military and national police, acting after a months-long undercover investigation, arrested six officers Monday in an unprecedented military corruption case involving at least dozens of men who paid hefty bribes to avoid army service.

Maj. Gen. Matan Vilnaay, head of manpower for the Israel Defense Forces, told Israel Television that the number of reservists and draftees involved may reach into “the hundreds,” and other officials said more arrests are expected.

The deputy army spokesman, Lt. Col. Raanan Gissin, described the scandal as “a very serious breach.”

‘A Unique Institution’

“You find corruption in other government institutions, but it’s inconceivable that such a thing should happen in the IDF, which is a unique institution,” Gissin explained in an interview. “If there is anything sacred in Israel, it’s the question of serving in the army and doing your duty.”

Military service is compulsory for all Israelis, save those exempted for reasons of health or religion. Men serve three years and are thereafter subject to up to 60 days of yearly duty in the reserves until age 55. Women must serve two years and thereafter fulfill reserve requirements until age 34.

While there have been previous military corruption cases here, informed sources agreed that the latest one is unequaled in its scope.

Calling it a cancer, Gissin said “you’ve got to cut it as quickly as possible out of the body of the army.” He predicted that “there will be no mercy in this case.”

At Top of Evening News

The bribery story was the lead item on evening radio news reports here and on the main nighttime television newscast.

Vilnaay stressed in his television interview that even if it reaches into the hundreds, the number of individuals involved in bribery to avoid service is small compared with the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who are either in the regular army or the reserves.

And Gissin insisted that the scandal “has no connection whatsoever” to the continuing Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, which has taxed the military continuously since last December. He said that evidence gathered during the undercover investigation shows that the bribery ring began its operations at least a month before the uprising began.

The case nevertheless constitutes another blemish on the record of a citizen army that was once considered a model of unquestioned loyalty and valor.

That image began to erode seriously during the three-year war in Lebanon, when a significant number of Israeli soldiers refused for the first time to serve.

A protest movement of army reservists that grew out of the Lebanon war--calling itself Yesh Gvul, or “There is a limit”--was reactivated early this year, and according to Defense Ministry figures, more than 120 reservists have risked jail terms since then by refusing to serve in the occupied territories. Yesh Gvul activists say that 37 men have actually served terms of up to 35 days.

Police have so far arrested eight soldiers and eight civilians in the bribery case. The soldiers included two lieutenant colonels, two majors, a captain and a first lieutenant. Several doctors were reportedly among the civilians detained.

Israel Radio quoted the head of the military police as saying that the ring falsified documents, tampered with computers and issued false medical opinions. A soldier wanting an exemption usually dealt through an intermediary who explained the conditions--”usually a large cash payment,” state radio added.

“Here and there in the past there have been individuals who have exploited their positions for money,” said deputy army spokesman Gissin. However, he added, “I can’t recall corruption on such a scale.”