[Ynet] After year volunteering with an Israeli youth movement, Bilal Taha is proud to be in a combat unit, even if it means guarding settlements, and believes more Arabs will soon join the army.Before leaving his IDF base, 21-year-old Corporal Bilal Taha removes his military uniform and changes into civilian clothing; only then does he board the bus home to his Galilee village of Deir al-Asad, where service in the IDF is unusual, to say the least. Taha is a rare phenomenon, an Israeli Arab who chose to serve in the army.
"There are many who are not happy with my being a soldier," he says, "and I don’t know what their reaction would be if I entered the town in uniform."