Exemption from Israeli army for mental health issues doubled: Israeli media

A new record was set last year in the number of men in Israeli army who were exempted from conscription for reasons of mental health, reported by Israeli media Haaretz.

According to the Israel Defense Forces’ manpower directorate, 11.9 percent of draft-age men who were subject to conscription last year received a mental health exemption.

This represents an increase of around 50 percent in just two years, following a slower increase over the previous decade. In 2018, just 7.9 percent of draftees obtained a mental health exemption.

The Zionist army has for years been concerned about the rise in mental health exemptions. After last year’s rise was reported, it said the manpower directorate would make a concerted effort to stop this trend, in part by ordering mental health officers in recruitment centers to scrutinize exemption applications more thoroughly. But last year’s figures show the effort hasn’t yet borne fruit.

The Israeli army attributes the rise mainly to a rise in the number of young men suffering from depression or anxiety. But another factor appears to be a decline in the value of military service in the eyes of large segments of Israeli society over the past two decades.

The Zionist army consequently suspects that a large proportion of mental health exemptions are a form of draft-dodging rather than being psychiatrically justified.

In many cases, the exemption is given on the grounds that the draftee isn’t psychologically fit to carry weapons or sleep on base.