ACRI intervened before Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman protesting his intention to change current regulations so that only candidates who served in the army or conducted national service will be accepted to the ministry’s diplomatic training course.
Dan Yakir, ACRI’s Chief Legal Counsel, wrote in a letter to Lieberman on August 24: “This policy discriminates not only against Arabs and haredim [ultra-Orthodox Jews], but also against those with physical or mental disabilities. Attempting to make a distinction between those who “evaded” military service and those who were granted an exemption from military service is unacceptable.
“As long as there is no law making national service compulsory, it cannot be used as a condition for being accepted into the diplomatic cadet course. Since entering the Foreign Service is conditional on having passed the cadet course, discrimination in acceptance to the course is in fact discrimination in employment opportunities”.
