Thanks, I was 22 when I made aliyah. I actually was looking very forward to IDF service. I spoke basically no Hebrew and couldn't really do anymore than order a falafel with my vocabulary. A few months after getting citizenship, I went to the IDF processing center in Beersheba and spent probably 6-7 hours there doing intake. An officer administered a basic verbal Hebrew test on me in which I was asked to describe "Jurassic Park" in Hebrew, it was embarrassing, I only knew the word for 'movie' and said it was a "movie with dinosaurim" which I thought was the Hebrew plural for dinosaur, I figured they just borrowed the English word dinosaur in their language. At the end of the intake, after a physical, eye test, etc...I asked "what happens next, when do I join?" and the guy told me "we will let you know." I never heard from them again, a few months later I took a job at a telemarketing firm in which a lot of Olim worked and we made calls to the U.S. so no Hebrew required. The company laid nearly everyone off at the beginning of the recession in 2008 and I was left with no job and no idea when the army would require my services. I did try to contact them but the number I was given didn't even work...of course I probably could have done more to find someone to talk to and explain my situation....but I also was ready to go home and finish school as well so I saw it as an opportunity. I had no degree besides my H.S. diploma and there isn't much opportunity for an uneducated non-Hebrew speaker.golderob wrote:- I have dual citizenship in Israel, I obtained it in 2007 but left in 2008 because i lost my job there and couldnt find another that was english speaking only. I am worried I have military obligations that I never fufilled. Would this effect me?
Note: I lived in Israel for two years before returning to the US, but have many close friends from there who made aliyah during their 20s.
Dodging the IDF draft is really only a crime in Israel. If you go back, you'll have problems, and likely will be arrested until you arrange a way to fulfill your period of duty. I've never heard of the Israeli government going after dodgers who go back to the US. I even have friends in the US who were born in Israel and left in order to avoid the army, one of whom was even able to obtain an exemption to go back to Israel and study in a non-Charedi yeshiva for a year.
But let's back up a second. How old were you when you made aliyah? It looks like you were well into your 20s. Check the formulas for length of duty, but if you were 25+ (or if you were married and 23+), you'd have to do at most 3-6 months of miluim (reserve duty), which you could probably get out of by showing up to your tzav rishon and having a bum leg, being flat-footed, etc. And if you were a lot older (27+), you've got absolutely nothing to worry about.
B'sach ha'kol, I wouldn't worry too much about THIS one. And most of the others are also solvable. But save yourself and us, and please stay out of trouble for the next three years.
I really want to go back to Israel someday but I'm worried I'll be arrested on arrival. Anyways, good to know it at least won't affect my bar admission.
