Matalon at Conference on Equal Service
Published on: November 30, 2012On Thursday (29.11), MK Moshe Matalon spoke at a conference for students at a pre-army preparation institute on shouldering the burden equally. The other MKs in attendance were Yochanan Plesner and Haim Amsalem.
“We are the only party that has gone beyond sound bites and slogans regarding equal shouldering of the burden. Our bill for universal conscription in the army or national service was put to vote in the Knesset. Serving in the IDF or in the National Service is both the civil and moral obligation of every citizen. Moreover, I would call serving in the IDF not an obligation but a privilege.”
MK Matalon went on to praise the students for their high motivation and preparedness. Matalon said that the government should do all it can to encourage young people to enlist and compensate them well.
“I believe, along with the chair of my party Minister Liberman, that the privileges and benefits of citizenship are directly related to loyalty to the state. Therefore, we should give preference to those who do their duty. And in that spirit, I initiated a bill that passed the second and third readings that doubled the grant given to soldiers upon completion of service to 20,000 NIS – a sum of money that can kick-start the next chapter of a young person’s life – be it academic study or starting a business,” said the MK.
MK Matalon closed his remarks with a review of Yisrael Beytenu’s achievements in the 18th Knesset and wished all the students a successful and safe period of service in the IDF.