Israeli Army’s Personnel Directorate chief, Major-General Avi Zamir, says number of Jewish youths evading military service may reach 40% over next decade.

Zamir, who focused on the rising numbers of draft dodgers, warned that the coming decade may see up to 40% of Jewish teenager evade military service.

The situation, he added, can turn even worse: "Taking into consideration Israeli Arab youths, we are facing a situation in which 70% of youths will not enlist to military to national service".

"Even now the notion of ’the people’s army’ is fraying and if these trends continue we’ll be on the brink of an abyss," he said.

According to IDF (Israel Defense Forces) data for 2008, 72% of teenage Jewish boys and 54% of girls enlist in the military, placing draft dodging rates at 37%.

Zamir was especially critical of the 38% of teenage girls who use a false claim of religious observance to dodge the draft. "That, to me, is cynical abuse of the law. We’re not too far off from seeing those numbers hit 50%."

Source: Ynet News