Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Infant Gets Army Call-up Notice

He can’t yet walk, but he has already been called up by the army for reserve duty – as a driver. For Elihu Ben-Shoshan, crawling is more his speed these days, preferably with a pacifier firmly planted in his mouth. Nevertheless, as Israel Defense Force order recently arrived in the mail at his Carmiel home, […]

Advertisement

He can’t yet walk, but he has already been called up by the army for reserve duty – as a driver.

For Elihu Ben-Shoshan, crawling is more his speed these days, preferably with a pacifier firmly planted in his mouth.

Nevertheless, as Israel Defense Force order recently arrived in the mail at his Carmiel home, ordering him to show up for duty as a driver in a month.

“I burst out laughing, I couldn’t believe it,” his mother Michael Ben-Shoshan told the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot. “What, they’ve started drafting babies into the army?”

The IDF said in response that thousands of similar orders are issued weekly, and such a mistake in the paperwork is possible.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement