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45% of those called, don't serve, IDF says Forty five percent of those youngsters fit to serve in the Israel Defense Forces do not do so, according to the statistics in the hands of army's Manpower Division and which were publicized Thursday at a press conference organized by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. The figure includes Israeli Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox. According to information collected by the IDF, by 2008 the number of those who do not serve will have increased to 50 percent. The figures also show that 70 percent of men between 21 and 45-years-old do not do reserve service. At the press conference Thursday, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel announced it was launching a campaign against the Tal Law, which effectively exempts Yeshiva students from military service. Three months ago the movement appealed to the High Court in a bid to get the law cancelled, and it has started signing people on a petition against the law. So far 20,000 people have signed, more than half of the 35,000 the movement hopes to get. By Moshe Reinfeld, Ha'aretz Correspondent

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