Sod this for a game of soldiers

In Israel it has long been the case that 18 year-olds are conscripted into the Israel Defence Force (IDF) to undertake their National Service. Tal Mitnick, though, is the youngest Israeli to conscientiously object and face the consequences.

Conscientious objection to conscription was not uncommon in Israel before the mass attack by Hamas on its territory from the Gaza Strip on 7 October last, but since then it has become much more difficult to sustain. For a nation that feels itself beleaguered on all sides in its region, and subject to antisemitism abroad, it is always liable to be seen as a form of betrayal. For an 18 year-old fresh out of school, therefore, it requires a particularly strong conviction and a powerful moral courage to buck the trend at this time by refusing to conform. 

But that is precisely what Tal Mitnick has done, and undergone an unusually harsh 30-day prison sentence as a result, whereas a 10-day token sentence is (or was) the norm. He has pledged to refuse his second call-up, which was due yesterday, so we shall see how the state responds and how Tal will react. From his statements to date it is likely to be unrepentantly and with calm stoicism.

Tal looks older than his eighteen years and certainly speaks with an eloquence and moral authority far beyond them. He has Palestinian friends and says "I do not want to take part in the continuation of the oppression and the continuation of the cycle of bloodshed, but to work directly for a solution.” On a day when IDF forces have sustained their largest number of fatalities, with twenty-four soldiers killed in an operation in Khan Younis in Southern Gaza, the Israeli public's response to Tal's continuing recalcitrance is likely to be more nuanced than previously. With many families questioning whether they wish their own children to be subjected to such risk the mood may shift in Tal's favour.

Luckily for him, Tal is not unsupported. A refusenik organisation, Mesarvot (Hebrew for 'we refuse'), exists to support and advocate for conscientious objectors. Before Hamas' murderous 7 October incursion, Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was facing fierce public opposition. After 7 October the mood shifted again but now, one hundred and eight days into the conflict, with an estimated 25,000 Palestinian deaths, the twenty-four Israel soldiers killed today, the Strip almost pounded to oblivion and mounting international criticism, plus protest attacks by Houthi rebels in the Yemen against merchant shipping in the Red Sea, the tide of public opinion may finally be turning in favour of young protesters like Tal.

The world has much to learn from the integrity of those like Tal, who will inherit the mess we elders leave behind us.

Update: As reported by The Intercept, Tal Mitnick was sentenced to another 30 days behind bars today. Before returning to prison, he tweeted the following message in solidarity with a Cypriot conscientious objector: “International solidarity between us is the way to fight against oppressive systems in each of our countries”. 


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