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Of Israel, Bar Refaeli, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IDF and Gender Bias Discrimination
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Joel Leyden Jerusalem, Israel --- March 27, 2013 … There appears to be a true and deep rift today between the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israel Defense Forces - IDF. But that is nothing really new. In Israel, if you have two people you will normally get three opinions. But this time the difference of opinion is over a pretty girl. Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli stars in a new and highly effective tourism advertisement for Israel. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs created the video and the IDF wants it removed. An IDF spokesperson states: “The choice of a representative who did not serve in the military as an official presenter on behalf of Israel, conveys the message that Israel ignores and forgives evasion of enlistment, and encourages identification, among youths of both sexes, with the success of those who did not enlist.” Bar Refaeli is accused of escaping IDF military service by getting married and then obtaining a divorce after she was excused from the IDF. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs defends its decision to use Bar Refaeli saying: “Refaeli is considered one of the most beautiful women in the world and is widely recognized as an Israeli,” a statement said. “There is no reason to bring up the past when it comes to a campaign of public diplomacy of this kind.” Refaeli responded to the criticism on Twitter.com: “You can use my clip for the Foreign Ministry or drop it, but my Instagram page has more readers than Israel’s most popular newspaper.”
If Bar Refaeli did wrong years ago, do not hang her out to dry if she is doing wonderful things today for the Jewish state. But transcending whatever wrong that Bar Refaeli committed, the IDF is guilty of a much greater injustice. Why does the Israel Defense Forces have one rule for men and another for women? Why is it that married women are excused from the IDF but not married men? Both married men and women should be required to serve. If they have children, then they or a court (if they are divorced) should decide who should care for the children. The reason for having two sets of rules is called gender bias discrimination. Gender bias discrimination in Israel is rampant and has hurt many - thousands of loving, caring fathers who are divorced and cannot see their children. Or at least cannot see their children with equal access. In Israeli society, by default, the women becomes the primary caretaker of a child until the age of six. And it stays that way for many years following. Only recently have Father's Rights groups made progress in reforming these archaic and destructive laws of discrimination. It took fathers rights groups from Israel, including Fathers4Justice, to file charges against Israel at the UN and secure decisions against the Israel Ministry of Welfare and Social Services which is now forcing them to come to face with the reality that children need both parents. The
IDF is in no position to point fingers at Bar Refaeli as not being
worthy of being a "role model" as long as their entire
system is flawed with gender bias discrimination. A system which
made it possible for Bar Refaeli to avoid service where men had
no choice.
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