I Have The Choice To Exempt From My Mandatory Military Service But I'm Scared Of People Hating Me Because Of It

[Cozy_Dog]

I’m set to enlist to the Israel Defense Forces but I know that I have the option to exempt from it because of my mental illness background. Because I’m kinda neutral on the moral standpoint of enlisting or not (leaning towards not enlisting being morally right), I wanna make the decision based on reducing the damage caused by the people who would judge this decision for the rest of my life. Because I have made previous attempts to delay my service I know for certain that if I exempt from the military people would percieve it as draft dodging and I know that a big chunk of the society in Israel hates and shames dodgers constantly (although it usually doesn’t affect getting jobs or anything in your career). On top of that, there might be a lot of veterans from other countries who will hate me for “draft dodging”. And on the other side I know there are also a lot of muslims that would hate me for choosing to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces because of it’s violent reputation. So I’m really screwed both ways but I still wanna know which option you think would cause me the least hate from people.

P.S: I know that the hate also depends on a lot of things like my popularity and whether i choose to live privately and keep things secret so I also wanna note that my dream career paths all consist of being a “public figure” to an extent, so I know that whatever hate i receive for my decision is amplified by that.

[andy-hughes]

You have to start forming your decision from your own moral standpoint, and work out where you stand there.

If you decide not to serve, and you are happy that your decision sits well with your personal morality, then that is where your decision begins and ends.

You have no control over what people think of you, only what effect, if any, that has on you.

You are not obliged to go through life justifying every important decision you make to every single person you meet.

Discuss it with your loved ones, and make sure they understand the reasons for choice, which ever way you decide to proceed.

After that, you make your decision and live with it, and if you have made the right decision for you, then you will have no trouble doing that for the rest of your life.

If you make any important decisions based on what other people may or may not think of you, you will never know a day's happiness.

Think it over, make your choice, live with it.

[Mozz71]

Honest answer? Forget about what others think. Look after yourself in this instance. Are you risking your mental health problems spiraling out of control if you do enlist? Do you have the option of a medical discharge if you do join up and things go south?

The most important thing is to look after your own wellbeing. Good luck to you mate.

[Theland]

If you feel unwell then don't do it.

[10ClarionSt]

I thought all Israelis wanted to wipe the Arabs off the map? What military service did your parents do? What do they think? Do they know how you feel?

[waterboatman]

You state you have a mental illness background. If that is the case you should certainly not join any military organisation. You would be a liability to yourself and everyone else! I can understand your conscience and morality.
It's just my opinion, but I think you should stay away from military service.