Sharon youth enlistment rate wins a salute from IDF

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The Sharon area leads the rest of Israel in the proportion of its young men and women who perform their compulsory military service, reports www.nrg.co.il. While just 61.5 percent of young men and 43.6% of young women enlist on average nationwide, in cities in the Sharon area the figures range from 76 to 85% for men and from 68 to 82% for women. According to the report, the conscription rate in the Sharon area far exceeds the national average, with Hod Hasharon making the best showing of all the cities in the Sharon. While 61.5% of young men enlist across the country, in Hod Hasharon 85% of young men do so, followed by 82% in Kfar Saba and Ramat Hasharon, 80% in Herzliya and 76% in Ra'anana. And while 43.6% of young women enlist nationwide, in Hod Hasharon 82% do so, followed by 78% in Ramat Hasharon, 76% in Herzliya, 72% in Kfar Saba and 68% in Ra'anana. The report said that while the overall conscription figures in Ra'anana are lower than in the other Sharon cities, Ra'anana has the highest proportion of men going into combat units, with 54% of that city's conscripts doing so, compared with 40 to 46% in the other Sharon cities, and 41% nationwide. A spokeswoman for the IDF's education and youth unit said the Sharon's conscription rate was "a model for emulation throughout the country." She said that while the conscription rate had been falling in recent years, it had recently begun rising once again, partly because of the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and Operation Cast Lead earlier this year, and partly because of preparatory workshops and sessions the unit had begun running at high schools, done in conjunction with the local authorities.