Over 130 Israeli reservists sign petition to refuse service
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Dozens of Israeli soldiers are refusing to serve in the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza and Lebanon over the protraction of the wars and the foregoing of the captives.
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An Israeli soldier waves from a moving tank near the Gaza Strip in southern occupied Palestine, Monday, October 21, 2024. (AP)
Some 130 Israeli soldiers have signed a letter refusing service in the Israeli occupation forces in light of the ongoing aggression on Gaza and Lebanon, citing the protraction of the fight while neglecting the captives among other ideological reasons, media reports indicate.
One soldier who volunteered to fight in Gaza in the wake of Operation al-Aqsa Flood, Yotam Vilk, is now refusing to serve, saying he did so to "save [my people], and there is still a need to save them, which the Israeli government doesn't seem to see as urgent," he told CNN.
As per CNN, he had completed two rounds of service in Gaza but is saying he would refuse to show up if ordered to go again, underlining that while military action was justified in some cases, it should be used as a tool to reach diplomatic solutions.
"The destruction in Gaza getting harder, the lives of Palestinians getting harder and the lives of Israeli hostages getting harder," due to "Israel's" actions, he said.
The soldiers who signed the letter conditioned their return to service with the signing of a deal on the return of the Israeli captives in Gaza, saying, "For some of us, the red line has already been crossed, and for others, it is rapidly approaching: the day when, with broken hearts, we will stop reporting for service."
The Israeli soldier underlined that while he does not believe that Hamas should be governing Gaza, he does not want the Israeli occupation forces to occupy Gaza militarily once again. He noted that despite Israeli claims they would not settler Gaza, the regime's support for West Bank settlement expansion made him doubtful.
'Good people'?
Another Israeli soldier who served on the border with Lebanon, Max Kresch, voiced awe in light of what he has heard on the northern front, with other soldiers claiming it was their religious duty to kill Palestinians in Gaza - even children - because they would "grow up to be terrorists."
However, despite what he heard about the need to kill Palestinian children, he still called the soldiers saying so "good people."
He also said he does not discourage people from serving, but signed the letter to support those who had already done so. "We’re a year in, and we still haven’t had a hostage deal… but doing a deal isn’t going to mean I’m OK and suddenly ready to go back. The camel’s back is broken. It takes a lot more to heal that back," he told CNN.
Moreover, Kresch said he believed Netanyahu was leveraging the collective "trauma" among Israeli settlers "for political gain".
He also told CNN he received a call from the officer responsible for calling up reservists in his unit. The officer asked him to take back what he’d said or vowed not to call him back to reserves.
More soldiers signing letter refusing service
Israeli website Walla reported on Tuesday that an additional 15 Israeli soldiers had joined the 138 previous signatories opposing continued service without a captive deal that ensures the return of Israeli captives held in Gaza. Among the latest signers, two are active-duty soldiers, including one woman.
Some of the signatories indicated that their signatures represent the end of their current service, while others expressed that they are nearing a breaking point, as previously reported by The Jerusalem Post.
The letter, addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Security Minister Yoav Gallant, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and government members, called for the end of the war, “We, the reservists and active-duty soldiers, officers, and soldiers, hereby declare that we cannot continue like this. The war in Gaza sentences our brothers and sisters, the hostages, to death,” the letter reads.
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The letter did not specify a date by which they would stop their service, but they warned that it is approaching. “We, who serve and have served with dedication, risking our lives, hereby declare that if the government does not change direction immediately and work to promote a deal to bring the hostages home, we will no longer be able to serve. For some of us, the red line has already been crossed; for others, it is approaching: the day is near when, with broken hearts, we will stop showing up for duty. We call on the government: sign now on a deal to save the lives of the hostages.”
