He’s a baby-faced 18-year-old with a heart full of idealism. When Tel Aviv teenager Tal Mitnick refused to enlist in the Israeli army, he was put on trial: On Tuesday he was taken to a military prison to serve a 30-day sentence.
Finding yourself alone in a country determined to wage war is a heartbreaking decision. But, speaking at Tel Hashomer, a base near the Gaza fence in central Israel, Mitnick strongly defended his decision.
“I believe that massacre cannot solve massacre,” he said. “The criminal attack on Gaza will not resolve the atrocious massacre perpetrated by Hamas. Violence will not solve violence. And that’s why I refuse.
Tal Mitnick, an activist from the Mesarvot network, showed up today at the Tel Hashomer base and was sentenced to 30 days in military prison. Listen to what he had to say before entering.
Support him and other refuseniks: pic.twitter.com/zu1XZJqmhG
– Mesarvot מסרבות (@Mesarvot_) December 26, 2023
The statement appeared on Mesarvot’s X account, a support network linking refuseniks in a campaign against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. In a previous interview published on the account, Mitnick outlined his universalist stance on the conflict.
The solution, he said, will not come from corrupt politicians in Israel or Hamas. “It will come from us, sons and daughters of both nations,” he said.
Friends showed their support for Mitnick, holding signs with phrases such as: “You can’t build heaven with blood,” “An eye for an eye and we all go blind” and “There is no military solution.
Military service is obligatory for most Israeli Jews, considered a rite of passage. In the country’s highly militarized society, so-called refuseniks risk being labeled traitors.
Are refuseniks common?
No. Generally speaking, refuseniks may end up serving repeated sentences in prison, with orders to return to recruitment centers again and again. Some end up spending months behind bars before finally being released.
The Israeli military has a committee of conscientious objectors, but exemptions are generally granted only on religious grounds – ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, for example, are legally exempt. Refusing to serve on grounds of political principle is not considered a valid objection.
Earlier this year, Amnesty International published a report on Yuval Dag, a 20-year-old who made his political objections clear before his summons. The army called his refusal disobedience and sentenced him to 20 days in prison at Neve Tzedek military prison in Tel Aviv.
The human rights group named four other people – Einat Gerlitz, Nave Shabtay Levin, Evyatar Moshe Rubin and Shahar Schwartz – who have been arrested multiple times in 2022. Conscientious objectors typically serve five months or more in prison – a high price to pay for young people doing what they do. they believe they are right.
Many opponents make their decision after participating in protest movements, whether it is about LGBTQ rights, climate change or the Israeli occupation, violence and discrimination against Palestinians – a system that many rights groups have compared it to apartheid.
Are there any famous refuseniks?
In 2003, a group of Israeli Air Force pilots caused national fury by refusing to participate in operations in the West Bank and Gaza. In a letter to the media, they called the attacks on the territories “illegal and immoral.”
The case is remarkable, involving elite members of the military like Brigadier General Yiftah Spector, considered a legend in the armed forces for his attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1982. The government accused the pilots of “pretentious whining”.
The same year, the country’s elite commandos also defied orders to carry out attacks on occupied territories. Outlining their position in a letter, 15 reservists from the Sayeret Matkal unit, often compared to the British Army’s SAS, said: “We will no longer corrupt the stamp of humanity by carrying out the missions of an army occupancy.
“In the past we fought for a justified cause (but today) we have reached the limit of oppression of another people. »
In 2007, swimsuit model Bar Refaeli married a friend to avoid military service, later telling the press that “celebrities have other needs.” Later, to avoid harming the companies she worked for, she agreed to participate in an enlistment drive. The case sparked a debate over how easy it is to evade conscription.
Wait, hasn’t there been some dissension in the ranks of the army this year?
Yes, but it was not linked to the occupation. In early March, around 700 reservist troops – including some high-ranking officers – resigned en masse during widespread protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul. Critics have accused him of restricting the powers of the Supreme Court to protect himself from accusations of corruption.
Explaining his refusal to serve in the army, Dag said reservists resigned because they were afraid of living in a dictatorship. But he stressed: “We must remember that in the occupied territories there has never been democracy. And the undemocratic institution that reigns there is the army.”
Responding to the rebellion in the ranks, Netanyahu said: “There is no room for refusals.” Military service was, he said, “the first and most important foundation of our existence in our country…Refusals threaten the foundation of our existence.”
Netantahu’s view is not unusual. Across the political spectrum, with the exception of some left-wing and Arab groups, parties condemn refusal to serve for a number of reasons. Leftists worry about polarization, saying refusing to serve would encourage right-wing resistance to the removal of the settlements. The right believes that refusal helps Israel’s enemies.
What the law says?
The right to conscientious objection to military service is protected by international law, enshrined in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The UN Commission on Human Rights has said states must “refrain from subjecting conscientious objectors to imprisonment and repeated punishment for failure to perform military service.”
However, it is common in Israel not only to imprison opponents, but also to repeat phrases several times. In 2003, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that international law prohibits “double criminality.”
Selective objection is not an option. In 2002, Israel’s High Court ruled that allowing soldiers not to serve in the occupied territories would “loose the ties that bind us as a people.”
The case was brought by a group called Courage to Refuse, which said its duties would involve “dominating, expelling, starving and humiliating an entire people.”
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