Not in my name

There is an important and vital segment of Israeli society that has opposed the brutal and indiscriminate military operations in the Gaza Strip: conscientious objectors. In Israel, conscription is mandatory from age 18 and lasts 36 months. Anyone who says "no" citing the principles of nonviolence ends up in prison. Objectors can be convicted and imprisoned repeatedly for the same "crime."

As of October 7, 2023, the first person to be reported was eighteen-year-old Tal Mitnick. In December 2023, less than three months after the brutal terrorist attack carried out by Hamas and the indiscriminate response ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu, Tal Mitnick was summoned, like other young people finishing high school, to Tel Hashomer, one of the Israeli armed forces' recruitment centers. There, he declared himself a conscientious objector: the status was not recognized by the special commission appointed to evaluate cases like his. Tal Mitnick was sentenced to 30 days in prison and held in the Neve Tzedek (Oasis of Justice) military prison, near Kfar Yona. "I refuse to believe that further violence can bring security," he wrote in a statement reported by the British newspaper The Guardian: "I do not want to take part in a war of revenge."

So many months and so many tens of thousands of deaths later, on October 5, 2025, the media covered the latest political demonstration by Israeli conscientious objectors: Roman Levin and Itamar Greenberg were stopped, along with other peace activists, at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip while attempting to break the blockade. "I cannot wear a uniform that symbolizes killing and oppression," reiterated Itamar Greenberg, who has been jailed several times. "In total," he wrote in a testimony published on Amnesty International's Italian website, "I served 197 days, divided into five distinct periods. I refused to ask for an exemption for medical or mental health reasons. It didn't seem right to ask for anything other than a stop to the massacre in Gaza." Finally, on the same website, on October 15, Amnesty International launched an appeal for the release of Yuval Peleg, 18, who was held behind bars for refusing to join the Israeli Armed Forces.

Exact figures aren't available, but it's known that there are many cases of conscientious objection. Among them are young people (at least 150 alone who contacted Yesh Gvul (There is a Limit), one of the historic organizations that supports conscientious objectors), but not only. A significant number of reservists, some estimates around 100,000, stopped reporting for duty following the failure of the second ceasefire (March 2025). The reasons given are varied. One thing is certain, however: the very strong bond between Israeli civil society and the military has at the very least weakened. "'I prefer prison to killing children,' here's why some Israelis choose prison over the army," CNN headlined in an online story on the phenomenon. Among the media outlets that most closely follow the experiences of conscientious objectors, it's worth mentioning +972 Magazine, an online publication born from a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian journalists. The publication itself speaks volumes: +972 is the international telephone code shared by Israel and Palestine. A common starting point.

Alberto Chiara
NP November 2025