Soldiers’ Complaints About Lack of Winter Clothing Topic of Debate

Complaints by soldiers on the Golan Heights that they lack sufficient and proper winter clothing were the center of a Knesset debate today. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan admitted there were delays and foul-ups in providing soldiers on the Golan Heights with proper winter clothing but said that all units were now fully equipped and men on the freezing slopes of Mt. Hermon had special sub-zero clothing.

His critics remained skeptical but Dayan had motions on the subject referred to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee. He invited committee members to visit the northern front as soon as possible to talk to officers and soldiers about the clothing problem and other matters.

The issue of warm clothing for soldiers on the bitterly cold Golan Heights stemmed from newspaper accounts of shortages, allegations that some units were only partially equipped with overcoats and that some officers had overcoats while their men did without them. The matter was originally raised by Jerome Chervin, an American immigrant from Philadelphia, now a resident of Jerusalem, who has been running a one-man soldiers’ welfare operation on the Golan Heights. Chervin, who was in the Knesset gallery today, brought in 1000 pairs of winter underwear for soldiers two weeks ago. One of his friends, Rabbi Bill Novik of Chicago, flew in yesterday with 100 overcoats.

ALLEGE OFFICERS HAD WARM CLOTHING

Shmuel Tamir of Likud, noting that people abroad were volunteering to send in overcoats and other equipment, called it a disgrace for an army. Tamir, waving newspaper clippings and letters, quoted a letter from a “Lt. A.” who complained he had to tend his tank without gloves in sub-zero temperatures. He charged that soldiers had been told to buy their own clothing. He said he knew of a unit on Mt. Hermon in which 76 men had special “dubbonim” overcoats and 30 did not. He alleged that the Chief of Staff had said that some men took their overcoats home and sold them. If this was true, Tamir said, “what is happening to army discipline?” If untrue, he added, it was a slur against the army.

Yehuda Ben Meir of the National Religious Party and Tamir alleged that officers had warm clothing while privates had none and said this was a situation that went against the traditions of Israel’s army. Chaika Grossman of Mapam, said that while the immediate post-war shortages may have been unavoidable, the situation should have been rectified by now–months later. She said that only last week she read in a kibbutz newsletter that the kibbutz had decided to buy overcoats for its men serving in the army.

Dayan said he was glad that the MKs and newsmen who raised the issue cared sincerely for the soldiers’ welfare. But he added, it would be a travesty to suggest that the commanders in the field did not care. They cared “very, very much,” the Defense Minister said.