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‘I can’t justify this military operation any more’: the IDF reservists refusing to return to Gaza

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/27/idf-reservists-refuse-to-return-gaza-israel

Three Israeli reserve soldiers who fought in the war against Hamas say why they no longer want to be part of military

‘I can’t justify this military operation any more’: the IDF reservists refusing to return to Gaza

For Israeli military paramedic Yuval Green, it was the command to burn down a house that made him decide to end his reserve duty.

Green had spent 50 days in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis earlier this year with his paratrooper unit, sleeping in a home lit only by battery-powered fairy lights among the rubble and devastation.

He had begun to have doubts about the unit’s purpose there months earlier when he heard about Israel’s refusal to agree to Hamas’s demands to end the war, along with freeing hostages.

Green is one of three Israeli reservists who told the Observer they will not return if called for military service in Gaza. All three previously undertook compulsory military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which forms the backbone of society.

16 comments

DmMacniel

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would be cool if this dissent grows through the ranks so that Benni can't continue this travesty.

homura1650

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The insidious thing is that refusing to serve does not grow dissent within the ranks. It takes those who are dissenting out of the ranks, which causes the army as a whole to be more extreme. And, given long standing compulsory service laws, such dissenters can be jailed, allowing the government to disrupt any potential domestic anti war movement.

DogPeePoo

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…any more?

ASDraptor

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"After tens of thousands of murders, many of which were women, elder and children, I realized that maybe we weren't in Gaza to defend ourselves"

No, fuck you.

FUCK

YOU

You fucking deserve all the nightmares and all the PTSD you'll get from this. 1 day there should have been enough to realize you were being part of an ethnic cleanse. In fact, you should have ended your reserve duty before going there.

You don't deserve my pity or my understanding, you deserve to live with your burden for being a fucking genocide helper.

Siegfried

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A door for redemption should always remain opened... at least this is how we used to do things in the west.

Coming to a right conclussion should be praised, even with this context.

sazey

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If we close entirely the door to earning redemption, we only consign dissidents to the clutches of what they were trying to get away from in the first place.

Siegfried

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And this is mentioned directly by Sun Tzu

sazey

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today I learnt, thank you!

RedditWanderer

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"ended your reserve duty right there".

Spoken like a true keyboard warrior. He says he won't go back (probably at great personal risk to him and his family) to whistleblow what he's seen.

If you think that's how things work, you might want to avoid reading into what the US military has been doing for the last hundred years or so.

sazey

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What a retarded line of thinking. He is to be condemned for coming to the correct conclusion too slow? Can you imagine the pressures involved in going against your entire society and everything else you may have ever known? These people ought to be commended and celebrated so more people with similar doubts may be able to follow in their path.

cyborganism

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Yeah well look back at the Nuremberg trials. A lot of the Nazis that were convicted were "just doing their job". That didn't excuse anything.

OP is right. He deserves to be accused of serving and participating in genocide, even if he regrets it.

sazey

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These men are voicing dissent during an active conflict, how the fuck is that the same as what happened at Nuremberg?? What more do you want?

Sylvartas

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Only leaders were tried at Nuremberg though, which is why that shit didn't fly. As reservists, these guys almost don't qualify as professional soldiers. Trying the few dissenters for genocide would ensure no one in the IDF questions their orders ever again

IndustryStandard

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They should be allowed to atone for their sins if they truly regret their deeds.

magnetosphere

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As maddening as this is, imagine the ENORMOUS propaganda and social pressure that these soldiers are fighting against. They’ve been told countless times that they’re defending both their religion and their homeland (and, by extension, their friends and family). For most of us, those are some of our biggest drivers. Honestly, I’m not sure that I would have the strength to maintain free will under those circumstances. We all like to think we’re incorruptible, but we’re not.

Judging from the outside is easy. Actually living through it is something else.

Samvega

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You fucking deserve all the nightmares and all the PTSD you'll get from this.

You realise hate is bad, so you go around hating people. You're the problem.

Gsus4

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Just for a little perspective: people with your exact mindset exist in Israeli leadership who are responsible for Haniyeh getting murdered instead of continuing negotiations. Never forgive, never forget, an eye for an eye until everyone is blind.