Not International Terrorists?

British Jews signing up for service in Gaza and the West Bank

Jeevan Vasagar

Thursday November 23, 2006

The Guardian

He grew up in suburban north London and still misses home comforts like milky British tea, the friends he left behind and the local pub. But yesterday Joe Wainer joined an elite Israeli army unit, and now he faces the prospect of active service in the occupied West Bank. The 19-year-old, one of nine young Britons who have signed up for a programme that recruits foreign Jews for the Israel Defence Forces, realised his life had changed when he fired an M16 rifle for the first time in training.

"When it comes to fire the gun, it's one of the biggest shocks," he said. "The smell of the gunpowder, the kickback. It's what you don't see in the movies."

The soldiers, all of whom will have dual nationality, are part of a wave of migration to Israel from western countries including Britain, France and the US, as fewer Jews arrive from regions such as the former Soviet Union. The British recruits, who arrived in the summer when the war with Hizbullah was at its height, believe the Jewish state needs a show of solidarity.

Training began in September, when they spent a week sleeping in tents, learning to obey orders and doing endless press-ups. A two-day test involving running uphill while carrying sandbags decided who was fit for combat roles. Mr Wainer, who grew up in Barnet, was selected to join Nahal, a reconnaissance unit currently deployed in the West Bank. Nahal soldiers shot dead three Palestinians last month in what the Israeli army said were counter-terrorist operations. Some Israelis have refused to serve in the West Bank or Gaza but he does not share their doubts.

"If it's a job that we have to do, then I have to do it," Mr Wainer said. "Israel has always been under attack. Without the army, there would be no Israel."

For now, the six young men and three women, who are all taking Israeli citizenship under the Garin Tsabar programme, which recruits foreign Jews, live in Sasa, a kibbutz on the border with Lebanon. The hilltop settlement of low-rise concrete buildings became a rear base for the army during the recent war. "We were shooting missiles from the foot of this kibbutz," said Danny Young, 19, another British recruit, pointing from the crest of a hill down to a line of yellow scrub marking the border. "We were also receiving Katyushas [rockets]. Some of them landed in the fields over here."

To the right of the slope is a reminder of another war, the cloud-capped peak of Mount Hermon, part of the Golan Heights that Israel annexed from Syria in the Yom Kippur war of 1973. Mr Young grew up in Southgate, a north London suburb, and misses the pub, his mates and the 24-hour Asda. His new home remains geared up for battle. In the evenings, armoured cars clatter along the pathways and there is a constant buzz from a factory making bulletproof vests and vehicle armour.

On Tuesday nights, a bomb shelter is converted into a nightclub, where Israel's foreign legion drink lager and sing karaoke to a soundtrack which includes Bob Marley's Buffalo Soldier. Mr Young, whose grandfather fought in the British army in the second world war, will serve in the paratroopers. He left Britain because he felt he had to hide his identity, quitting a job at an Essex bus garage because of anti-semitism. "They would be Nazi saluting. On toolboxes, they had written stuff like 'Essex Nazis'. It was done as a laugh, making fun, they'd be saying 'Jew' in German. They didn't know I was Jewish at first, but I didn't like being in a community where I felt I had to put things away."

Mr Wainer fell in love with Israel during a gap year. "There's something very mystical about it," he said. "It's the ancient Jewish homeland. It's where it all started. This is where Abraham was and where Moses fled to. "There's a feeling of togetherness that England really lacks. There's a lot of different groups in England and they're all at each other's throats."

This British contribution to Israel's defence is tiny in scale, but provides a morale boost. "It's not about the number of people, its about the intention," said Dafna Brenkel, an Israeli soldier who mentors the British group. "The idea of people from overseas showing support and love for Israel, giving up their daily comfort, their home and their usual way of life, is an amazing thing."

Joining the army is a rite of passage in Israel, a formative experience in which friendships are made. For foreign Jews, it can be a shortcut to integration. Mr Young said: "When you join the British army, you're joining just to be in the army - it's a profession. Here it's part of the way of life."

In their spare time they watch DVDs of the US mini-series Band of Brothers on a laptop. Mr Wainer said: "I haven't quite experienced the part where somebody's leg is blown off. Hopefully we never will. But they really are a band of brothers, and that's what we are."