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Israeli Reservists Deal with Double Lives of Being Civilians and Soldiers

(AP/San Francisco Chronicle) Gavin Rabinowitz- At home, Eran Kurtzer is a suburbanite with a wife, baby daughter, and small insurance agency. But for six weeks a year, Kurtzer, 33, is an army major leading a company of paratroopers on patrols through the hills of the West Bank. He and his unit are among thousands of Israeli men who once a year are torn from their everyday routine and thrust back into uniform. The disrupted lives and livelihoods that American reservists are discovering as they spend months in Iraq have been a way of life in Israel since 1948. "I'm proud to be doing this....It's a privilege, not a burden," Kurtzer said.
2004-09-03 00:00:00
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