Israeli Youth Resist Military Conscription into the Israeli Defense Forces

 By David Starr

 

There has been an increase in the number of Israeli youth who are refusing to enlist in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). When an Israeli turns 18 years-old, it is obligatory to enlist, but there are exceptions to this military conscription. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, for example, can avoid service if they are fully committed to studying the Torah. One factor that is not an exception is refusing to enlist based on ideological reasons. And a growing number of youth have refused for precisely these reasons.

 

When Fred Hidvegi was 17, he had already planned not to enlist when he turned 18. And instead of going along with the obligation to serve he became a “refusenik.” At that time, Hidvegi knew he risked going to prison if he didn’t serve. That in turn made him anxious.

 

Hidvegi heard the consistent speeches about how important it is to serve, “a meaningful service for the country.” “I got a message from the IDF telling me that I’m ‘invited’ to a sorting intended for future paratroopers. I don’t want anything to do with the IDF, for obvious reasons. I don’t want to take any part in enforcing apartheid, colonialism, and violent oppression.”

 

Hidvegi grew “more and more anxious by the day because a professional organization of trained terrorists that calls itself an army wants me to be one of them. And I cannot say no. But, in the eyes of the government, especially the purely fascist one we have now, I should be proud to serve.”

 

A major part of the IDF’s mission is to kill. “Fighters in the army have a literal license to kill. And to top all that, the propaganda we are fed in school is infuriating.” Hidvegi said that most people know of the the professed morality of the IDF. Those among his classmates have been conditioned to believe this, and embrace it. And for Israelis who support the Palestinians quest for self-determination, they are labeled a “dirty leftist” or a “Nazi.”

 

It's ironic that the word “Nazi” has been used as an epithet by ultranationalist Israelis considering those same people support getting rid of the Palestinians in what could be called a “Final Solution.”

 

“To destroy and take lives is the main reason for an IDF soldier. Everything else is secondary,” said Hidvegi. “That’s why I will be a paratrooper if I don’t resist. If I don’t defy them. If we all don’t defy them.” Hidvegi chose to resist because the IDF is not the most moral army in the world. He decided to say no, even at the risk of going to prison.

 

Reserve units of the IDF have also resisted against being a part of oppressing Palestinians. Ariel Bernstein, an activist and former IDF solider, wrote in +972 magazine that 10,000 reservists refused to fight. “[V]arious units signed a letter declaring they would stop volunteering for service ahead of the Knesset passing a law eliminating the High Court’s ability to strike down ‘unreasonable’ government decisions.” Bernstein added that a protest group with thousands of reservists called Brothers and Sisters in Arms have figured prominently in street protests. 

 

“This unprecedented level of refusal, driven by political-moral convictions, has left many astonished,” wrote Bernstein. “The people known in Israel as ‘the best of our sons’ – pilots, intelligence officers, and special forces,” stayed away from politics and were in denial about the IDF’s misdeeds, “are now standing united in the streets and in public petitions encouraging refusal to serve the military machine.” 

 

The transformation to outright resistance has had the Israeli public questioning the “sacredness” of the military. Bernstein notes that this “suggests the possibility that societal attitudes toward the army are indeed evolving.” Bernstein calls this a “new phenomenon altogether,” as reservists have been at the least questioning the Israeli government’s motives; at the most the refusal of them to participate in any military activity. 

 

Another main reason has been Israelis’ pessimism of the current government, where it threatens the degree of democracy in Israel. Particularly, Benjamin Netanyahu’s threat to overhaul the judicial system to give him and his ilk a further entrenchment of power. That in turn causes worry among those refusing because they could be investigated and eventually charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

 

Bernstein writes that “the current movement is not actually anti-militarist in character. Those participating in it are insisting on calling their action ‘non-attendance’” with the participants perhaps implying that they would return to duty if the judicial overhaul fails. 

 

Wondering if the movement can persist, Bernstein comments that those refusing could go back into the IDF “perhaps unwillingly”. Netanyahu has gained popularity in times of crisis, and another military operation in Gaza, or the West Bank, etc., would satisfy him; and as Bernstein put it, “as usual, the Palestinians are the ones who pay the price.”

 

But there is strength in numbers, considering that the government relies on a large number of reservists and former military personnel for conducting military operations. If many reservists do refuse outrightly to serve in the IDF, the current government could be in trouble by not having enough man-power for war.

 

Bernstein writes that “it is impossible to know where the current wave of refusal will lead how long it will last.” But “it is a rare opening that paves the way for Israelis to question the legitimacy of military actions and perhaps later to reassess their stance on the army’s primary function: maintaining the occupation.”

 

Other Israeli youth who have come out and refuse going into the IDF include:

 

• Tal Mitnick, who thought it was inevitable that he would have to join the IDF. He didn’t, however, have a gung-ho attitude about serving as other youth have, the latter being conditioned by militaristic propaganda.    

 

Since military service is mandatory for most Israeli Jews, Mitnick had discussions with his friends about whether they would be willing to serve; that caused a lot of anxiety. There has been an increase in conversations among Israeli youth especially since the October 7 attack by Hamas. And there are many within the Israeli population who in the name of “duty” have really sought revenge for the Hamas attacks.

 

Mitnick saw footage of the Israeli ground invasion and bombing of Gaza. That convinced him of resisting mandatory service, despite the risk of going to prison. 

 

If he were to go into the military, Mitnick was hoping for a non-combat position so he wouldn’t have the “obligation” to kill Palestinians. But he feared the odds were against that. The possibility of serving time hung over him.

 

• Yuval Dag is familiar with the Israeli prison system since he was detained for 64 days for resisting. It wasn’t exactly a vacation as Dag said he didn’t have a good time. (One can imagine what Palestinians go through.) 

 

Dag turned to social media and didn’t regret it. He says that Instagram is his news source, which posts sources from the left-wing worldwide. Once getting politically-conscious from those sources, Dag became aware of what Israeli propaganda is with its bizarre arguments and lies. He sees social media as an important entity that could possibly change the minds of Israeli youth, thus, getting to understand what’s really going on in places like Gaza and the West Bank.

 

For Dag, alternative sources are of the utmost importance to other Israeli youth so they can find out inconvenient truths about their country.

 

• Sofia Orr, due to social media, found the courage to go public with her stance of resistance. Orr says going online may inspire other Israeli youth to change their minds about going into the IDF. Orr comes from a family that leans to the left, so she has solid roots to expand her thinking about Israel.

 

The risk of Orr to come out as a resister is obvious. Other youth will probably view her as a traitor. She already feels like an outsider for taking a stand. But, nevertheless, she is doing her country, and the world, a huge favor by resisting.

 

If Israel, specifically the right-wing, continue with the violence perpetrated on Palestinians, Israeli youth may finally wake up and find they have been essentially lied to. That could create an opportunity for real change, starting with getting rid of the Netanyahu regime.