[Civil resistance against the government has put the Israeli
military in an unparalleled crisis, presenting an opportunity for
those fighting apartheid. ]
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A MASS WAVE OF ISRAELI ARMY REFUSAL COULD BE A TRANSFORMATIVE MOMENT
 
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Shimri Zameret
March 5, 2023
+972 [[link removed]]

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_ Civil resistance against the government has put the Israeli
military in an unparalleled crisis, presenting an opportunity for
those fighting apartheid. _

Israeli reserve soldiers, veterans and activists protest outside the
Supreme Court in Jerusalem, against the government's planned reforms,
February 10, 2023, Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

 

During the Second Intifada, as the Israeli army was killing thousands
of Palestinians in its effort to suppress the uprising, I was part of
a movement of Israeli youth and soldiers who refused to serve in the
army. From the age of 18 to 20, I spent 21 months under arrest and in
prison, alongside many others, in protest
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of the occupation and its brutal policies. It was one of the largest
campaigns of conscientious objection
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— one that, until recently, seemed very unlikely to occur at such a
scale again.

Over the past two weeks, however, and for the first time in two
decades, a new movement of Israeli army refusers has emerged
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opposition to the far-right government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, as
it advances a slew of anti-democratic legislation. The proposed laws,
described as a “judicial coup” by opponents, will severely weaken
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country’s courts, giving the ruling coalition almost unlimited
power. While impacting the rights of women, LGBTQ people, secular
people, and other minorities, it is Palestinians on both sides of the
Green Line who will face the heaviest brunt
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legislation.

Against this imminent threat, thousands of Israeli soldiers and
reservists have made public statements announcing their intent to
refuse army service should the government’s legislation pass. One
such statement
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had over 250 signatures of reserve soldiers, all from the army’s
special ops unit, stating the legislation is intent on “making the
judicial branch a political and non-independent branch, in other words
an end for Israeli democracy.” A second, similar statement
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of refusal garnered over 500 signatures of reserve soldiers, all from
“Unit 8200,” an intelligence unit often compared to the U.S.
National Security Agency. 

Meanwhile, according to media reports, almost every Israeli army unit
— including the Sayeret Matkal commandos and other elite forces —
is facing a revolt from within. Internal army chat groups are
reportedly flooded with rank-and-file soldiers stating they either
refuse or will refuse to serve if the judicial coup succeeds. Dissent
in the air force — one of the Israeli army’s most revered
divisions — has been of particular concern for the military
leadership, according to press reports
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In a message on an internal air force WhatsApp group quoted in Haaretz
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for example, one pilot announced that instead of serving one day a
week as a reserve soldier, he will now use that day to demonstrate
against the government. Another new refuser said that if the
legislation is approved, the army’s ability to address security
threats “will be damaged, without a doubt,” emphasizing that
“There are whole units, especially in the intelligence area but also
in the technology area, that are dependent on reserve service
year-round.” On Sunday, almost all the reserve pilots of Squadron
69, one of the air force’s most elite teams, declared
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to their commanders that they, too, would refuse service should the
judicial plans go ahead.

GROWING CHANCE OF SUCCESS

Or Heler, a military correspondent for Channel 13 news who has been
closely covering the current developments, warned
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this historic revolt risks putting the Israeli army in an
“unprecedented crisis.” He is right. And for the movement
struggling to end Israeli rule over the Palestinian people, this
crisis presents a moment of unprecedented opportunity.

Almost all Jewish Israelis are conscripted
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into the army at the age of 18, with men typically serving for 32
months and women for 24 months. Notably, though, almost all the
Israelis taking part in the current wave of refusals are reserve
soldiers — older Israelis who continue to serve in the army for
either one month every year, or one day a week for many years,
typically until the age of 40.

These reserve soldiers are called for regular training and are
recruited in great numbers in times of war. But the army also relies
on these soldiers for its day-to-day functions, especially in fields
that require longer training and technical knowledge, such as
intelligence gathering and the air force. Without them, the army
cannot operate.

The new wave of refusal is unfolding amid a larger campaign
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demonstrations and civil resistance actions across Israel against the
government. Protesters have blockaded major highways and train
stations in Israel’s biggest cities; surrounded and tried to
nonviolently break into the Knesset
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parliamentary debates on the legislation; staged a national general
strike; and organized weekly marches that have brought hundreds of
thousands out onto the streets every Saturday.

Just as important are the economic action
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the banner of this movement: Israeli citizens and companies have
publicly divested from the Israeli economy, selling their Israeli
currency and stocks and buying foreign ones. The ripple effect has
been effective: during February, the Israeli shekel plunged 10 percent
against the dollar, and many observers are warning of further economic
damage and capital flight.

As a researcher on civil resistance — the use of strikes, boycotts,
mass protests, and other nonviolent actions to withdraw cooperation
from oppressive regimes — in global justice campaigns, I can safely
say that this level of involvement in civil resistance campaigns is
unparalleled in Israeli history.

According to media estimates, 2 to 4 percent of Israel’s population
(between 200,000 and 400,000 people) have participated in at least
three of the peak protests and strike days across the country. Never
before has an Israeli movement included such a scale of participation,
and at the same time used civil resistance as its primary tactic.

With such levels of active participation often indicating higher
chances of success, this is important news. Campaigns of civil
resistance can have a transformative impact, as examples from recent
history show: the ousting of President Slobodan Milošević by Serbian
citizens in 2000; the revolt that led to the restoration of democracy
in Nepal in 2006; the overthrow of authoritarian rulers in Tunisia and
Egypt in 2011; the blockades of the World Trade Organization,
International Monetary Fund, and G8/G20 summits; and the actions of
climate justice movements such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil,
and the Sunrise Movement.

STARTING WITH THE SMALL

Yet as successful as the Israeli protests have been in mobilizing
people, some are also wary that they are missing a key underlying
issue. Critics rightly point out
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that many of the individuals and groups leading the current opposition
movement — including the army refusal campaigns — are primarily
focusing their messaging on the impact that the government’s plans
will have on Jews in Israel and the diaspora, while ignoring
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decades of anti-democratic and apartheid policies advanced by all
prior governments against Palestinians. 

These critiques are important and legitimate. However, both
strategists and experts on civil resistance movements stress that
successful campaigns throughout history have often focused on
“minor” or “symbolic” demands that helped make the greater
injustice visible to larger parts of the general population. For
example, the Indian anti-colonial movement’s most widespread
campaign was centered on fighting a British tax on the production of
salt, rather than the entirety of colonial rule. The U.S. civil rights
movement also made national headlines through a campaign focusing not
on voting rights first, but on segregation on public transportation.

Moreover, for hundreds of thousands of Israelis, young and old,
participation in this protest movement will likely be a formative
experience for the rest of their lives. And as we have seen with
previous waves of army refusal, the act of defying the military —
one of the most central institutions in Israeli society and national
identity — can often be a major step for Israelis toward abandoning
the hegemonic norms in which they were raised, eventually leading to a
total reshaping of their worldview. It is telling that many in the
small community of Israeli activists that today devote their lives to
fighting the occupation and apartheid started as young army refusers
or reserve soldier refusers in previous waves.

According to media estimates, 2 to 4 percent of Israel’s population
(between 200,000 and 400,000 people) have participated in at least
three of the peak protests and strike days across the country. Never
before has an Israeli movement included such a scale of participation,
and at the same time used civil resistance as its primary tactic.

With such levels of active participation often indicating higher
chances of success, this is important news. Campaigns of civil
resistance can have a transformative impact, as examples from recent
history show: the ousting of President Slobodan Milošević by Serbian
citizens in 2000; the revolt that led to the restoration of democracy
in Nepal in 2006; the overthrow of authoritarian rulers in Tunisia and
Egypt in 2011; the blockades of the World Trade Organization,
International Monetary Fund, and G8/G20 summits; and the actions of
climate justice movements such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil,
and the Sunrise Movement.

So yes, it is troubling that millions of Israeli Jews are only now
seeing for the first time that the country’s ultra-nationalist and
ultra-religious forces are an existential threat to society, including
to the millions of Palestinians subjected to Israeli rule. That said,
later is better than never, and this wave of refusal and protest may
yet create a deep change in Israeli society. While it will likely take
years to reach the surface and shape long-term policies, this period
of mass refusal and civil resistance could be as transformative as the
Israeli movements that emerged during the Second Intifada, the 1982
Lebanon war, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Faced with this wave of refusal and resistance, the role of people
around the world who oppose Israeli occupation and apartheid —
including the thousands of members of the Refuser Solidarity Network,
of which I am a part — is twofold.

First, while Israelis struggle from within using civil resistance, we
must use parallel tactics internationally against the Israeli
government: strikes, boycotts, disruption, divestment, and other
nonviolent actions. We need to fight this legislation, but also make
sure the campaign is leveraged to tell the story of the greater
injustice, namely that of Israeli rule over the Palestinians.

Second, we should publicly endorse this wave of refusal and
resistance, stand in solidarity with it, and especially support those
refusers and protesters who see their actions as part of a bigger
struggle for justice for Palestinians. The path ahead is neither safe
nor certain, but for the first time in decades, I can honestly say
that I see a realistic path toward ending the occupation in our
generation.

Shimri Zameret is a board member of Refuser Solidarity Network, an
international network supporting army refusers in Israel. He is a
researcher and lecturer at the University of Michigan, and the author
of a forthcoming book, “The World Is Broken” (Beacon Press), about
civil resistance and the democratization of global governance.

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972 Magazine

* Israeli Army Refusers; Israeli Protests Against Netanyahu
Government;
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