( CNN ) -- Israel 's military is using a new weapon to catch draft-dodgers : the social networking site Facebook . The army says it checks the home pages of those who have sought an exemption from military service because they are orthodox -- religiously observant . The pages sometimes provide evidence that the people have done things that a strictly observant Jew would not do . About 1,000 female Israelis in the past two years who had claimed to be orthodox have had to `` rephrase their religious declarations '' and do their military service after being found out , Israeli military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich told CNN . Military service is obligatory for Israelis from the age of 18 . Men serve three years , women serve two . Some reasons , including religious observance , can be claimed to avoid this . Leibovich said checking Facebook is just one tactic used to uncover false religious claims . Questioning and background checks also are done . But with Facebook , Leibovich said , the military can `` check whether a person is taking photos on Shabbat ( the Jewish sabbath ) , whether they are wearing something that is not modest or updating their status on Shabbat . '' Orthodox Jews are not allowed to use machinery like cameras or computers on the sabbath . The military has also caught draft-dodgers by seeing photos of them in a non-kosher restaurant .
Facebook pages can reveal false claims for a religious exemption from the Sabbath . The Internet can show people did things on the Sabbath that orthodox Jews would not do . Military service is required in Israel , with a few exceptions .