Whether you believe Israel is on the right or wrong side of the so-called ‘Middle East conflict’, you cannot doubt that Israel’s army gets to see some action too frequently. Just last night, terrorists broke into an Egyptian army base in the Sinai desert, stole two APC’s and tried to ram the border crossing with Israel. A battle ensued.

So how would you pay your teenagers for defending your country?

Let’s start from the beginning. From the age of 18 in Israel, boys are conscripted for 3 years and girls for 24 months. Depending on the level of training, where they serve and the ‘danger element’, the monthly wage varies from around 350 nis to 800 nis. So at the lower end, we are talking about US$90 or STG60 per month.

To give that figure some kind of comparison, stats in today’s newspaper reveal that an American recruit will receive about US$1,600. For the UK, the figure is close to US$1,200. Even the Chinese army pays better than the Israeli army at US$150.

However, the average Israeli private on parade does not have to go abroad to learn how his own Finance Ministry officials, safe in the cosy chairs, are insulting him (or her). The minimum wage in Israel is about 4,100 nis, and that is for a 185 hour work month. The soldiers are frequently stuck for over a week on the base, receiving maybe a tenth of that!

And then of course there is the touchy subject of those who are exempt from the army for religious reasons, and end up being categorised as “early-level teachers”. Their classroom wages, also often below the minimum figure, is way above that of their brothers in arms.

In effect, Israeli soldiers, who risk their lives for the country, earn a living which will just about buy themselves a daily portion of felafel in pitta. Disgusting as that is, my point is more generic. There are many grades of workers in the Israeli public sector – nurses, social workers, soldiers, etc – who are paid far far less than they are worth. It is time for the Finance Ministry to deal with these anomalies, before society has to pay a heavy price.