Soldiers are refusing, and dissent is spreading
Max here. I am a reservist who served in Israel’s assault on Gaza before refusing to continue my service – to bring the violence to a stop, bring the hostages home, and end the occupation. Ever since my refusal, I have been organizing with Soldiers for Hostages, a group of reservists organizing against the war and publicly refusing service to bring it to a stop. Over the past few weeks, our group has grown faster than we could have imagined, fueled by the criminal return to the assault on Gaza. With the reality of corruption, political motivations of the war, and devastating death and destruction, more and more reservists and ex-soldiers are joining our movement. We are no longer operating at the margins. We’re not just refusing—we're organizing. We are now over 240 soldiers who have publicly declared they refuse to take part in the assaults on Gaza. We are growing and so is the state’s repression against us. Our movement is counting on urgent global support: your donations enable us to continue organizing in the field, bring in new refusers and put a stop to the bloodshed.
We’re breaking into the mainstream. Israel’s public broadcaster aired a piece on us, while its legacy newspaper has published our calls for an end to the war. Refusal has long been kept outside the boundaries of legitimate debate in Israeli society. But we are shifting this line. We feel it every time we show up at a protest in our “Soldiers for Hostages” shirts. The back reads: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust wars.” It’s a provocation—and it opens conversations. When people see a soldier in uniform, a reservist, standing behind that message, it creates a dissonance: this is what resistance looks like! At these protests, we hand out flyers with a barcode linking to our letter. People scan it. They read. They sign. They join. That’s how the movement grows.
Many have already joined our call over the last few weeks. A new refusal letter of medical personnel was published, followed by 1000 air force personnel calling for the end of the war. Many unorganised people are declaring their refusal on social media. We are experiencing momentum across all sectors of society.
For the first time, Soldiers for Hostages is building a team dedicated solely to integrating new reservists who have never refused in such a manner. But it’s not just about adding names to our public letter: it’s about weaving a support network strong enough to hold the weight of conscience, grief, and resistance. Our goal is not just to gather reservists who will publicly threaten refusal, but to help them become activists in their own right, helping us organize more people and become a force that can actually stop this war. Some volunteers help onboard new members, others help with campaigning. A few of our signatories—mental health professionals—are organizing support circles for those of us struggling with the isolation that comes from refusing. You lose the community you once had in the military, you’re seen as a traitor by the people you once stood beside. But in this movement, we are building a new community to be a part of.
We are not ‘traditional’ refusers. We are soldiers. We served. We all returned from reserve duty more disillusioned than ever, having been forced to take part in a war with no real goal other than political survival of the Netanyahu regime, continuation of the occupation and destruction of the Palestinians. This comes at the expense of our brothers and sisters still being held hostage by Hamas for over 1.5 years.
But this work doesn’t stop if the war ends tomorrow. We are not just resisting the war. We are building something larger: We are building a movement to fight for accountability, for responsible and just policy, an end to the occupation and to endless wars, and a commitment to the sanctity of the lives of everyone
The response to our activism has been swift. Police violence. Intimidation. I myself was beaten at a protest by the police because of our work. They escalated immediately—out for revenge, not order. Their aggression tells us something important: they see this movement as a threat. Reservists who've refused also began to receive fines from the army, trying to scare us and demoralise. But we are showing new and potential refusers everywhere that we are here for them, and we are ready to organize with them. We will cover the fines and provide them with legal support. The government should be scared of us. Something is changing. People are listening. The cracks are widening, and we are not backing down.
We need your help. We need your help to continue growing and organizing and to show any refuser that they should not be scared to resist, we have their backs. Please consider donating if you can. Together we can end this war.