Members of an elite Israeli army unit came out against the local version of “American Idol.”
Several former and current members of Maglan, a top anti-tank commando unit in Israel’s conscript military, wrote a letter to the producers of “A Star is Born” to complain about the fact that several of the show’s contestants had evaded mandatory national service, Yediot Achronot reported Wednesday.
“We go out on operations to defend the country while our peers sing and get famous,” Yediot quoted the group as saying in the letter. “We would ask that you seriously consider not accepting draft dodgers to your program. It hurts those who are really protecting you.”
Keshet, the Channel 2 television franchise that broadcasts the highly rated “A Star is Born,” rose to the defense of its contestants, saying that most had done military service while a few had been discharged “for person reasons, in accordance with the law.”
The flap comes amid heightened Israeli public scrutiny since last year’s Lebanon war into who serves and does not serve in the military.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
