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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem

‘The power we had was astonishing’: ex-soldiers on Israel’s government in the occupied territories

Woman shows identification
A Palestinian woman has her documents checked by the Israeli security forces. Photograph: Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

When Joel Carmel went for his military service in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), he didn’t expect it to mean sitting at a computer processing permits, typing in Palestinian ID numbers all day.

“Before I went to the army I considered myself a centrist, politically speaking. I knew broadly about the occupation and the combat side of things. But it was so boring, so bureaucratic … It wears you down,” the 29-year-old said.

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