I voted in the IDF, and invite you to try our ‘reserved’ dialogue

An inside view of the elections in the IDF

Reserve duty is never easy.

Stopping life for several days, leaving your family behind, and putting your business on hold.

Oh, and there is adapting to military life:
The horrible food, non existing sleep, and knowing that without the Turkish coffee instead of blood in your veins, you probably would crash.

Put aside missing my family – this week I am so grateful to be away.

Being that on election day we will be maneuvering in a big drill, we voted today.

Out in the field, with limited or no internet access, we will be disconnected from the election.

I’m grateful that my reserve duty will spare me the slime, filth, and cries of incitement that will fill the social media news feedsand media overin the next 48 hours.

I am thankful of the election experience in this setting.  A short ‘survey’ I conducted in my unit, showed that we have voters from across the entire political spectrum.

However, the political dialogue is completely different when you’re in uniform. There is a mutual understanding that our common goal and mission transcends who we vote for, and what religious or social affiliation I am a part of.

Even with heated debate, political disagreement and contrasting worldviews, everyone is listening and respectfully attentive to the other. We remember that tomorrow, the day after the elections, we will still serve side by side, and still be living together.

It is not too late to “reset” our attitudes and approaches, and move away from the disastrous and dysfunctional dialogue currently infesting the media and the web, to a move “reserved” dialogue. I strongly recommend.

At the end of the day, this is a Democracy, and we are each free to debate and argue with each other – respectfully.

I wish you all a happy election day!

Enjoy your vacation, celebrate democracy — I’m off to search for some canned tuna.