Political correspondent Zeev Kam, currently serving in the reserves with Battalion 21 of the Carmeli Brigade, is sharing his experiences from the field\u2014and they sound completely different from how things appear from the outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hear that out there, one protest letter follows another, reservists rushing to sign that the war is political, and all this noise. The country feels like it\u2019s in turmoil. I\u2019ve been in reserves for two months now up north, with Battalion 21 of the Carmeli Brigade, and not a single person here has signed anything like that. But forget signing\u2014no one here has even seen such a letter. It just hasn\u2019t come through,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
According to Kam, while social media and the headlines may paint a picture of chaos, the soldiers are fully focused on their missions. \u201cBut forget about seeing such a letter\u2014I haven\u2019t even heard one conversation here about the topic. Nothing. No discussion at all. This whole thing has become unbearable,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n
In the background: Thousands declare, \u201cWe will always continue to serve\u201d<\/strong> \u201cOur service is not conditional on anything,\u201d the petition reads. It was written as a direct response to recent protest letters circulated by certain groups of reservists and former pilots. The signatories emphasized that they will continue to serve \u201cunder any government, whether right or left, regardless of our political views.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Journalist Zeev Kam says the reality on the ground is completely different | Amid a heated national debate, more than 8,000 active-duty IDF soldiers speak with one voice: military service comes before any disagreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":19678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,77,2276,6],"tags":[4182,4183,1475,3895,4181,4180,2551,4179],"class_list":["post-19676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-idf","category-people","category-security","tag-battalion-21","tag-carmeli-brigade","tag-idf","tag-israeli-army","tag-patriotism","tag-refusal-to-serve","tag-reservists","tag-zeev-kam"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nKam\u2019s remarks are echoed by broader developments. Earlier, journalist Dvir Amar reported that more than 8,000 active-duty soldiers and reservists have recently signed a petition declaring their unwavering commitment to continue serving in the IDF\u2014no matter the circumstances.<\/p>\n