IDF didn’t take DNA from 20,000 new recruits, including fighters, amid budget dispute
Military Rabbinate and Medical Corps can't agree on whose budget should pay for equipment used to preserve DNA samples, collected by the army to identify soldiers killed in action
Some 20,000 new recruits to the Israel Defense Forces have not had DNA samples taken as part of their enlistment process, the IDF confirmed on Wednesday.
Among them are combat soldiers who were drafted in July and August.
The samples, kept by the IDF for years, are used to identify soldiers or their remains in the event that harm befalls them during their service.
The stoppage in collections, first reported by Channel 12, has been caused by a shortage of equipment used to preserve the samples over time.
It is the result of a dispute between the IDF Rabbinate and the Medical Corps over who is responsible for paying for the equipment, the report said.
Channel 12 cited a source privy to the details who said the shortage of equipment was known of for two years before the collections stopped, “and no one did anything.”
“Everyone is shirking responsibility, each dumping it on the other. It’s a crazy situation,” the source said.
The IDF confirmed the details of the report.
It said the problem was being handled, telling the TV network that any DNA samples not taken yet would be taken soon, though it did not provide further details as to how the budget dispute might be resolved.