Teen sent to military prison over draft refusal; cited ‘revenge campaign’ in Gaza

Tal Mitnick, who signed letter in August indicating intention to refuse, becomes first known refusenik since Oct. 7 onslaught; says there is ‘no military solution’

Israeli consciencious objector Tal Mitnick during a November interview in Tel Aviv. (Screenshot used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Israeli consciencious objector Tal Mitnick during a November interview in Tel Aviv. (Screenshot used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Tal Mitnick, an 18-year-old Israeli who is refusing to serve in the IDF, began an initial 30-day sentence in military prison Tuesday — the first known case of a conscientious objector since the Hamas assault on Israel on October 7.

Mitnick, already a vocal activist against the government, started his sentence at the Tel Hashomer IDF base in central Israel, according to the Mesarvot organization that encourages refusal to serve in the military.

He was accompanied by a small group of supporters who cheered him on as he walked into the base. The IDF did not publicly comment on the incident, which drew widespread international attention.

Draft refusal is punishable by prison time in Israel, though many who wish to avoid service do so through other means, such as presenting evidence of medical or mental issues. The IDF has in rare cases accepted refusals on the basis of general pacifism, but not for refusal to serve due to specific issues with the local conflict.

In a lengthy statement circulated on social media, Mitnick said that “there is no military solution” to the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. “Even with all the violence in the world, we could not erase the Palestinian people or their connection to this land, just as the Jewish people or our connection to that same land cannot be erased.

“Violence cannot solve the situation — neither by Hamas, nor by Israel,” he added. “There is no military solution to a political problem. Therefore, I refuse to enlist in an army that believes that the real problem can be ignored, under a government that only continues the bereavement and pain.”

Mitnick said that the Hamas attack of October 7 — in which thousands of terrorists stormed across the border and murdered around 1,200 people, taking another 240 hostage — was “a trauma the likes of which has not been known in the history of the country.”

But Mitnick called the Israeli response “a revenge campaign” against not just Hamas, but all Palestinians, including “indiscriminate bombings of residential neighborhoods and refugee camps in Gaza, full military and political support for settler violence in the West Bank and political persecution on an unprecedented scale inside Israel.”

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says that more than 21,000 people have been killed in the Strip since the start of the war, an unverified figure that includes both civilians and Hamas gunmen as well as those killed by failed rocket launches. Israel has said that the figure includes at least 8,000 Hamas gunmen killed in fighting.

“I refuse to believe that more violence will bring security, I refuse to take part in a war of revenge,” Mitnick wrote. “Diplomacy, political effort and policy change are the only way to prevent further destruction and death on both sides.”

Mitnick noted that he had already decided to refuse to enlist in the IDF before the war began in October, “but since it started, I am only more and more sure of my decision… I love this country and the people here, because it is my home. I sacrifice and work so that this land will be one that respects others, one where you can live with dignity.”

Mitnick was among 200 high school teenagers who signed onto a joint letter in August saying that they would refuse to be conscripted by the military in protest of both the government’s judicial overhaul push and Israel’s decades-long control over the West Bank.

It was not clear if any of the other teens who signed the letter had also carried out their intention.

The August letter came amid widespread calls among IDF reservists at the time not to continue to show up for volunteer reserve duty if the government pushed ahead with its judicial overhaul program, which had spurred mass protests nationwide before it was essentially shelved amid the war.

In the period following the October 7 attack, the IDF said that more than 100% of reservists had show up for duty, meaning that many had turned up to fight without receiving a formal call-up.

Around 350,000 troops have been called up since the star of the war, with no indication that reservists who had threatened to boycott had done so. Many had said during the protests that they were referring only to volunteer reserve duty, and that they would show up in case of a national emergency.

Most Popular
read more: