jerusalem -- Ivri Lider, one of Israel's most popular singers, has given dozens of benefit performances at military hospitals and bases to entertain the troops. On stage he often wears a T-shirt that reads, "I love my country."
But three days before a gala concert for 10,000 soldiers Sunday night, the 33-year-old star was dropped from the lineup.
The abrupt cancellation was a result of the army's disappointing call-up this summer, which yielded the fewest draftees in five years. Worried Israeli leaders are now moving to stigmatize entertainers and other celebrity role models who have failed to complete mandatory military service. Lider, who was discharged from the army after serving one month, is one of the first to feel the backlash.
"The fact that those who do not serve in the military can become cultural heroes is worrying," Maj. Gen. Elazar Stern, the army's personnel director, told a recent meeting of state broadcast regulators.
Stern has barred draft evaders and army dropouts from performing at military functions. Army Radio has followed suit, canceling teen favorite Aviv Geffen's popular weekly program because of the singer's failure to serve in the military.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office is lobbying mayors to join the boycott ahead of festivities next year marking Israel's 60 years of statehood.
Vered Swit, an Olmert advisor, told the Jerusalem Post that some mayors were asking for names of artists deemed offenders.
Israeli officials voiced alarm last month about the decline in the call-up. It was seen as a blow to Israel's traditional image of its army as the defender and unifying force of a diverse society.
Officials say the army does not face an immediate shortage of combat troops or other personnel. But the slack call-up was the first since security setbacks in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip caused a crisis of confidence among Israelis about their country's long-term capacity to defend itself.
The campaign to tighten conscription, the most concerted here in years, has stirred a national debate about security and values. Blacklisting is the most controversial part of it, widely criticized as a witch hunt. Some of those singled out were legally discharged from the army but are nonetheless being branded as evaders.
"Artists are constantly being asked to perform for the public benefit, but on a hot-potato issue they can become easy targets and be branded as public enemies," said Rami Fortis, a prominent singer not on the blacklist. "What is happening is frightening."
