‘Movements like these end wars’: Israelis attend conference calling for IDF service refusal

The entrance to the conference, “Radical House” in Tel Aviv, January 2025

Liza Rozovsky reports in Haaretz on 9 January 2025:

Two well-built men in their 20s or 30s stood at the entrance to Radical Idea House, a center for cultural, environmental and political events and the hub of the organization and publishing house Radical, in south Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

When asked if they were IDF refuseniks, or among those who refuse to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, they replied, no. Their appearance seemed to match the profile of the audience – attending the first-ever conference calling to refuse to serve in the IDF until the return of the hostages. But it turned out that the two men were leaving an architects’ conference that had just ended.

At the same time, an audience was gathering for the next conference, organized by the writers of last October’s letter, penned by reservists and conscripts, announcing that they would not report for duty until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed the hostage deal.

More than 200 reservists and conscripts have signed the letter to date. More than 100 people came to the conference. But only a few audience members wore army pants, signaling that they are actually soldiers actively refusing to serve. When they stood up, they received a roar of applause from the crowd.

Most of the attendees were of the kind expected to appear at such an event – people too old to refuse to serve themselves, as attested by their graying hair.  “Tel Avivians,” summarized a 17-year-old from the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank, who stood out among the attendees. “I’m also against the war,” he hastily said, explaining that his parents’ political beliefs were left-leaning. “We simply live there.”

“The army is being used cynically, for the sake of political interests. What is happening in Judea and Samaria is happening because of political interests, what is happening in Gaza also,” said Yuval Green, an initiator of the letter to refuse to serve, at the conference’s opening panel.

“Movements like these ultimately end wars. There is nothing that upsets governments more than this,” he added. Despite his declaration, the conference was closer in character to a support group than a regime-threatening movement.  As the scope of acceptable public discourse in Israel continues to shrink, a group of several dozen leftists gathered in a private setting to voice what could be perceived as blasphemy.

Shaked Rogel is a member of the security squad of Kibbutz Malkia, located 600 meters south of the Lebanese border. Rogel is also a reservist serving in the 7064th Battalion of the Combat Engineering Corps. He says that during his battalion’s training, his commander said, “we’re entering Lebanon to destroy Shi’ite villages.”

He said that he decided to refuse to serve at that moment, because this was clearly an illegal order. When asked if he announced his refusal at that moment, in front of his commander and surrounded by his comrades, Rogel replied that it was hard for him to object in real time.

“The silencing, the pressure applied on you not to object, to keep your mouth shut, are so great, that when I was in the unit, I didn’t feel that I could speak,” he said.  “You feel alone, like no one will agree with you, that everyone there is just completely unhinged, unwilling to preserve the IDF’s ethical code and spirit,” said Rogel. He said that was why he came to the conference – to give others the feeling that they were not alone, and maybe also not feel alone himself.

Neta Caspin served for seven years as the ordnance officer in the 7018th Battalion, at an outpost in southern Mount Hebron. “I didn’t report for duty on October 7, because there was a strong feeling that we’re entering a conflict comprised of war crimes,” she said, “It was all about finding ways to hurt Palestinians.  I did report for duty later on, because I began to have doubts and thought that my contribution might be relevant. I served in the Northern Gaza Brigade and then at the Netzarim corridor,” she added. “I signed the letter after the murder of the six hostages. I realized there was no connection between the war and the defending of civilians.”

It would be hard to imagine many of the remarks made at the conference expressed anywhere else in Israel. One of the speakers was Shahar Mor, the nephew of Avraham Munder, who was abducted to Gaza from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity in August. His body and those of five others were recovered from Gaza. His speech at the conference resembled a sad and bitter standup.

Toward the end, Mor spoke about the complacency with which Israeli society accepted reports of dozens of Palestinian civilians killed in the operation to free four hostages last June.  “Listen, we have freed Noa Argamani, we are fighting [in Gaza] to free our hostages – we are allowed to also kill civilians [to achieve that goal],” he said, describing the public zeitgeist.

“The counter-question asked is, ‘wasn’t October 7 that kind of operation? An operation intended to free their prisoners? And if the Israeli side is allowed to kill a hundredfold, is that the norm? I want you to think about that.”

Later, Mothers’ Cry founder Michal Brody-Bareket spoke at the conference. “The Israeli public remains silent, even though the risk to the soldiers’ lives is unnecessary.”  Conference moderator and former MK Mossi Raz closed the event, calling for the return of the hostages and an end to the war, and the audience dispersed into the quiet of the night

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