Refusal to serve in the Israeli military: Encyclopedia II - Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - Refusals actions and movements

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - Refusals actions and movements

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - The high school seniors' letter

On April 28, 1970, a group of high school seniors about to be drafted sent a letter to Prime Minister Golda Meir expressing their reservation about the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the War of Attrition and the government's failure to take steps to avoid conflict. In 2001, a new high-school refuseniks movement called Shministim (Hebrew: שמיניסטים, literally "eighth graders"), followed in their stead. Over 300 Israeli high school students are currently members of Shministim.[2]

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - Yesh Gvul

Yesh Gvul (Hebrew: יש גבול, literally "there is a limit") is a movement founded in 1982 at the outbreak of the Lebanon War by reservists who refused to serve in Lebanon. A petition, delivered to Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was signed by 3,000 reservists, some of whom were court martialed and served time in military prison for refusing to obey orders. Currently it sees its main role as "backing soldiers who refuse duties of a repressive or aggressive nature."[3] It also engages in other political activities of distinct leftist nature. As of 2004, it is probably the biggest and most active group supporting refusal.

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - Courage to Refuse

In January 2002, 51 reserve soldiers and officers signed a "Combat Troops' Letter" or "Combatants' Letter"[4] in which they declared their refusal "to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people." They established the group, Courage to Refuse (אומץ לסרב, pronounced Ometz Le'sarev), which distinguishes itself by using conspicuously Zionist discourse: "Refusal to serve in the Territories is Zionism." There are currently 633 combatants from all units of the IDF and from all sectors of the Israeli society who have signed the letter and joined Courage to Refuse.

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - New Profile

New Profile is a movement for civilization of the Israeli society. It's a voluntary organization that acts against the compulsory law of enlistment and supports people who refuse to enlist in the Israeli army. New Profile is a feminist organization and most of its activists are women.

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - The pilots' letter

"The pilots' letter," published on September 24, 2003, was signed by 27 reserve pilots and former pilots already exempt from reserve duty. One of the signatories was a famous former pilot Brigadier General (res.) Yiftah Spector. In their letter, the pilots stated:

The signatories clarified that they do not reject military service in the IDF but declared:

In response, the Chief of Staff announced that the pilots would be grounded and will no longer be allowed to train cadets in the country's flight school. In response to their letter, hundreds of IAF pilots signed a petition denouncing the pilots' letter and their refusal to serve. Because of the harsh response, several of the pilots who originally signed the letter reneged and removed their signatures. Later, in an interview given to Israeli journalist Dan Margalit, Yiftah Spector stated that the letter was misunderstood and that pilots should not refuse to perform "targeted killing" of "terrorist leaders".

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - The commandos' letter

This letter, dated December 2003, was signed by 13 reservists of Sayeret Matkal, an elite commando unit, serving in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (nine commandos in Sayeret Matkal, 2 soldiers who had been removed from reserve duty because of prior refusals to serve there, and 2 additional combatant soldiers). Their letter, addressed to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, states:

The letter, released just three months after the Pilots' Letter, was condemned sharply by politicians on both the right and the left of the Israeli political spectrum. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz claimed that the soldiers were exploiting the reputation of their unit in order to attack the government's policies.

Refusal to serve in the Israeli military - Refusal to remove settlements

There are some Israeli Rabbis, former generals and public figures who call on soldiers to refuse orders to dismantle Israeli settlements and remove their residents. One of the prominent figures who call soldiers to refuse removal order is Uri Elitzur, a publicist and former civil servant. Eliztur claims that settlers-removal order is an illegal order, and therefore soldiers must refuse to obey it. He used the emotionally charged Hebrew term פקודה בלתי חוקית בעליל (literally, a clearly illegal order), which is a judicial term for an order that a soldier must refuse, coined in relation to the Kafr Qasim massacre. He used a Yossi Sarid (centeral left wing politician, Yachad) quotation that an order to transfer Palestinians should be resisted by any means, as a legitimation to a total and even semi-violent resistance against transfer of settlers.

Elitzur's and others calls to refusal were condemned by the many of the settlements' Rabbis and by the settlers leadership, including senior right wing politicians such as Efi Eitam.

On June 2004, Knesset members Efi Eitam (Mafdal) and Arie Eldad (National Union) initiated a law bill called "Unity of the Military Law." The law says that only police officers could engage in the removal of Jewish settlements, and soldiers could not.

In 2005, as a reaction to the disengagement plan, a right wing group called "Mateh Chomat Magen" (the name referring to Operation Defensive Shield) published a letter with 10,000 signatures of soldiers who signed a petition saying that they would refuse to uproot and remove Israeli settlements. The group now claims to have gathered over 30,000 signatures.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Refusals actions and movements", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki