Important questions on the mahal service

[mish]

Hi everyone

I am writing to you because I am interested in joining Mahal in 2008.

I am currently a second year french student in an israeli university and I would like to take a break in my studies in order to join Mahal.

However, I heard that new constraining laws regarding Mahal are to be enforced soon.
For example,

1) you cannot enlist if you were living in Israel (on a student visa for example) before joining Mahal,
2) the service in Mahal is extended to 18 months instead of 14 1/2 months

As these new regulations do not appear on the website mahal2000.com, i would like to ask you a few questions that do not appear in the FAQ:

1) Can i join mahal if i have already been residing in Israel for 1 1/2 or 2 years, on a student visa?

2) As I am probably going on an exchange program to Singapore (from an Israeli university) from August 2007 to December 2007, can I join mahal in January 2008 as if I was not living in Israel before the exchange program?

3) Can I arrange all the bureaucratic, medical and administrative issues during the summer 2007, so that i can come back to Israel right before (let say 3 or 4 weeks) being enlisted, and not 9 weeks as required (given that I already speak hebrew)?

4) If i sign my contract with Mahal, stipulating that i will serve for 14 1/2 weeks, before the law of a 18-months service is enforced, am I absolutely certain not to be obligated to serve 18 months?

5) Can I expect some flexibility from the army if I need to end my service let say 2 weeks before the normal date in order to start the spring semester back in my university on time?
Concretely, will I have to fight with the bureaucratie for that?

6) As a Hayal Boded, I am entitled to one month off during my service. If I decide not to benefit from this month out of the army, is it possible to serve for 13 1/2 months only? (which is theoetically the same thing as taking the month off at the end of my service)?

7) I am a small and tiny guy (59kg), I have never practiced any combat sport but I am quite endurant.
What are the objective chances for me not to have a high enough profile not to be affected to a cambat unit?

If i am not affected to a combat unit, what are the most likely activities that I will be doing in the army for 14 1/2 months?

9) At the time of my enrollment, I will have ended 2 1/2 semesters (out of a total of 3) of my toar rishon in Business Administration (with major in Finance).
Is there any chance that I will do something related to this discipline in the framework of my service in Mahal, if I ask to and if I am not affected to a combat unit?

Also, I would like sone advice from people who already went through Mahal.

Is it better to finish my first degree and then to join Mahal in August 2008?

My concern about this first option is that I will be out of the academic/professional year for a 1 1/2 year and I assume that it will be quite tough to get back to my studies for a second degree after that.

The second option is to take a break in my studies in the middle of my last year of studies in the university Im studying currently.
I ll finish the fall semester (in an exchance program in Singapore) in December 2007, then I join Mahal in January 2008, i ll be released in March 2009 and I can finish my last spring semester right after the army (even if the schedule is very tight but I ll try to arrange that with my university)

In this second option, I ll get back to my studies right after the army and therefore this option seems to me a lot preferable.

Please gimme the pros and the cons of each option.

thanks a lot in advance for answering my -too- long and -too- detailed questions

[mish]

I just read the Announcement posted and i want to make sone more clarification of my question:

1) Does anyone now know what the 9-months-without-being-in-Israel law exactly mean?

2) you have to enlist before your 22nd or your 23rd birthday?

3) As i saw in other posts, being fluent in Hebrew before joining Mahal is now is critical issue. I have a level Dalet and i really feel i have a good conversational level even though i miss a lot of vocabulary. But i m confident i can join the army with this level. do u think this is sufficient, in respect with the new - and quite arbitrary - rules that the IDF edicted?

[Dan from Boston]

Mish,

Please read the rules and post an introduction before posting again anywhere else.

1. I don't know, the rules have recently changed.
2. If you have to have been gone 9 months, then no.
3. This can sometimes be arranged. Talk to program director Avi Naor about that. His contact information is available on the main Mahal2000 site.
4. Whatever your contract says your length of service is, that's your length of service.
5. No, you cannot have a shorter service. 14.5 months is short enough as it is in any case, so you're not likely to get much sympathy.
6. No.
7. There are many very small guys in combat units. It doesn't affect your health profile. That's why it's a health profile, not a size profile.
8. This has been answered before. There are lots of jobs that they have non-combat soldiers do in the IDF.
9. It's very unlikely that you will have something to do with business administration during your service.

Second post:
1. Answered above.
2. Read the rule. You have to start before you turn 23.
3. Nobody knows exactly how the IDF decides. If you can speak, read, and write well, my guess is you'll be fine. It'll definitely be enough to serve. But as I said, nobody here seems to know what exactly the new policy is or if there is an exact guideline.

In regards to the longer questions, search the forums and have a look at some of the other responses as these questions have been asked quite a few times before. If you have a more specific question it will probably be easier to answer.

And again, make sure your next post is your introduction in the aptly named introductions forum.

Oh, and good luck. :-)