The Effects of Gendered and Ethnicised Conscription on Political and Civic Life: The Case of Israeli Circassian and Druze Citizens

Previous research has established the intricate relationship between both voluntary and mandatory military service and civic and political participation (Wilson and Ruger 2020; Teigen 2006; Nesbit and Reingold 2011; Elison 1992; Leal 1999; Koch et al. 2021; Koch 2022; Fize and Louis-Sidois 2020) as well as political attitudes (Grossman et al. 2015; Schreiber 1979; Pollock 1975; Jennings and Markus 1977). Despite the existing evidence regarding the effects of military service on political behavior and generally recognized political significance of the military as an institution, there is a lack of research exploring the consequences of its traditionally gendered nature. Using exploratory approach, this paper addresses the gap in literature by investigating the impact of excluding ethnic minority women from conscription on various aspects of their political and civic life. This paper is a case study of Israel, focusing on its gendered and ethnicized conscription system that mandates military service for Jewish, Druze, and Circassian communities. While conscription applies on Jewish, Druze and Circassian men, and Jewish women, Druze and Circassian women are exempt from mandatory military service, along with Israeli citizens from other ethnic groups. This exemption creates two additional divides within widely fragmented Israeli society: within Druze and Circassian community; and within Israeli female citizens. The paper extends our theoretical understanding of how political institutions enforce inequal citizenship, and the relationship between military and gender. Additionally, it illuminates political behaviors of commonly overlooked identities. The paper draws on original qualitative data from interviews with Israeli Circassian, Druze, and Jewish population, collected in the summer of 2023 in Israel.