New Group of Soldiers-refusers disobeying service in Gaza and the West Bank

Daniel here. I refused to serve in the Gaza war after serving as a reservist for several years. And today I organize war refusers as a member of Yesh Gvul, an Israeli movement that has supported refusers since 1982.

We are currently in the process of organizing a new initiative of group refusal, which you will hear more about once it becomes public. We wrote a new refusal letter opposing the Israeli government’s policies and its destructive use of the military. We have begun circulating it and collecting signatures., We wanted to thank you, donors and supporters of Resistance Solidarity Network around the world, for the support you have given us in the past few months. It means the world to us.

We are currently seeing an increasingly desperate Israeli government doing everything it can to bring reservists back into the army. In recent months, we have been receiving widespread reports of renewed efforts to draft reservists, including people who had previously received exemptions or stepped away from military service. We are resisting this new wave. More and more soldiers are questioning whether they can continue participating in the Israeli military’s violence against the Palestinian people, and our task is to support those who choose to refuse. None of us can do this work alone, which is why I wanted to thank you for your generous help and support.

Through the hotline of Yesh Gvul that I coordinate, we have been tracking these changes, helping reservists navigate the army’s changing procedures, and supporting dozens of soldiers looking to refuse service in the unjust wars.

We are also trying to build a new generation of organized resistance. A group of us, soldiers-refusers who refused during the recent Gaza war, have joined Yesh Gvul movement, and together we have drafted a new letter opposing the Israeli government’s policies and its destructive use of the military. We have begun circulating it and collecting signatures, with the goal of building a stronger community of reservist refusers who can bring new energy into the movement and create pressure against the occupation and Israel’s policy of endless war.

This work feels increasingly urgent. Military and settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is intensifying, the destruction of Gaza continues, and Lebanon remains caught in the cycle of war. Meanwhile, militarization and the occupation are becoming increasingly normalized in Israeli society. We need a broad left movement capable of confronting Israel’s ongoing occupation and connecting the struggles against military and settler violence, the destruction of Palestinian life, and the government’s wider policy of death and destruction.

That is what we are buildingtrying to build now: a new publicorganize soldiers-refusers letter, and aour community of resistance. I believe there are many more people in Israel ready to take a stand against the occupation and against endless war than it sometimes appears. Our task is to find one another and organize.

The support you, members of Resistance Solidarity Network, have given usmade throughout this period is meaningful and makes that possible by standing behind people who are taking real risks to resist the Israeli military, the occupation, and the government’s policies. Please support RSN and help make sure that those of us doing this work can keep going.

In solidarity,
Daniel Yahalom