A spokesman for the Israeli Students Organization in the United States and Canada said here that Israeli army authorities had rejected an offer from the ISO that its members would return to Israel to serve as reserve soldiers on request. Under present Israeli law, they are not obligated to do so, it was explained. There are about 6000 Israelis in the ISO but many more, though not directly affiliated, are connected with the organization which has its headquarters here.
The spokesman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that hundreds of Israeli students attending colleges and universities in this country had agreed to return to Israel to serve in its armed forces “whenever they are called upon.” But, he said, the manpower department of the Israel Defense Forces had rejected the offer, in a letter to the ISO, asserting that the Israel Defense Forces were seeking to make such services by Israelis abroad “mandatory service,” not being interested in “volunteers.” Yariv Ben-Eliezer, ISO secretary general, said Israeli students resent being called “draft evaders” by Israelis.
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