Facebook used to uncover Israeli dodgers of military service

Facebook has proven a very valuable resource for a number of different groups. For instance, employers have used the site to screen the way their employees have represented the company outside working hours and students have been able to connect with people enrolled on the same courses as them before they even arrive at their chosen university.

Now it appears that the Israeli military has been getting in on the act by using the social networking site to identify citizens who have been using their religious beliefs to avoid compulsory military service.

Israelis are compelled to serve in the military when they reach the age of eighteen, but there are certain reasons that make some citizens exempt from serving. A religious background of Orthodox Judaism is one of them. However, the Israeli army has been checking Facebook pages in a bid to expose Israeli women who falsely claim to practice Orthodox Judaism.

Facebook gives the military a way of seeing how the Israeli women in question are living their daily lives, which means they can filter out those who are contravening the rules of Orthodox Judaism. Among the decisive factors are respecting the Jewish Sabbath, eating kosher food and only wearing modest clothing.