Oleg Vyshniakov - Ukraine and Israel. Returning from the army - Ukraine and Israel

Today the issue of capacity and provision of the Ukrainian army is one of the most critical and painful topic. Ukrainian situation is absolutely unique - the army of a country at war mostly provided by volunteers and benefactors. Recently one of the journalists asked Avigdor Lieberman a question of how Israeli experience can help Ukraine. He got excellent reply: "Ukraine has wrong start from the beginning. It is necessary to start not with the army, but with the economy."

I have already made a comparison in one of my posts as for the serving conditions of the Ukrainian and Israeli soldier, so I won’t go back to this. Today I want to talk about what happens after the military service is finished. The Law for demobilized soldiers of Israel provides the following benefits:

• Money gift after the demobilization - depends on the length of serving term

• Income tax payment exemptions (about 3 years)

• Personal account deposit

• Additional fund helping for education or for own business start (about 5000 USD)

• The soldier will receive lifetime compensation in the case of disability, pension, plus free treatment and special rehabilitation centers treatment.

• In case of a soldier’s death, his family will be provided with all necessary support - financial, psychological and moral.

Demobilized soldiers will get help and support in work search and arranging their further civilian life. And most important – all mentioned above is not just "declared somewhere." It lives and it works.

And what happens to a soldier who has returned from the ATO area?  Many months waiting for the penny wage. They have to haunting thresholds, standing in long queues in the attempt to get the status of a combatant. I don’t want even to describe the situation when they return wounded and crippled. It’s excellent if there are funds \ volunteers to help. If not - survive on your own. People, who fought in rags with grandfather's arms, were eating packed lunches by the fire, return home and get absolutely nothing from the government. No one needs them except their own families and volunteers. But it’s not enough volunteers for everyone.

Can you blame the men who try to avoid such army? Let’s drop off the lyrical pathos and look at things realistically - in my opinion, no. A government that doesn’t understand the value of a soldier’s life and can’t provide a decent life of its army – is not for a long time or shortly will provide a foreign army.