army refusal

Ultra-Orthodox men being sprayed with a police water cannon during a protest against the imprisonment of yeshiva students who failed to comply with army draft orders, in Jerusalem, June 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Haredi draft revolt threatening to bring Israel to a standstill

As the government seeks to enforce military service for all, ultra-Orthodox refusal is revealing cracks in the country’s militaristic consensus.

By Eli Bitan June 23, 2026

Young Israelis burning their draft notices in protest of the genocide in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, July 15, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

Israeli army refusers defy harsher backlash to protest genocide

Facing longer prison terms and greater public hostility, a new cohort of conscientious objectors insist refusal is both a moral duty and an act of hope.

By Oren Ziv September 8, 2025

Israelis and Palestinians rally for an end to the war in Gaza, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, April 24, 2025. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

What is the role of Israelis in the Palestinian liberation movement?

The history of anti-colonial organizing shows there is room for joint struggle — but only if the partnership aims to promote true equality and justice.

By Fadi Shabita April 25, 2025

Latest

Ella Keidar Greenberg. (Oren Ziv)

‘When our grandchildren ask what we did during the genocide, I’ll say I refused’

Ella Keidar Greenberg, a transgender refusenik, explains why prison is a small price to pay in the struggle against Israeli occupation and patriarchy.

By Oren Ziv March 24, 2025

Rosa Luxemburg addressing a crowd during the International Socialist Congress, in Stuttgart, 1907. (Wikimedia Commons)

What a 20th-century revolutionary can teach us about resisting genocide today

Over a century after Rosa Luxemburg was assassinated for opposing German militarism, her spirit lives on through those disrupting Israel’s war machine.

By Dana Mills January 27, 2025

Iddo Elam (left) and Soul Behar Tsalik (right), before entering prison for refusing mandatory conscription in the Israeli army, November 27, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

‘We must use every tool to resist’: Israeli teens jailed for refusing military service

Conscientious objectors Iddo Elam and Soul Behar Tsalik tell +972 why their wartime draft refusal is a stand for a better future for all in Israel-Palestine.

By Oren Ziv November 28, 2024

Conscientious objectors Yuval Moav, Itamar Greenberg, and Oryan Mueller. (Oren Ziv)

Three Israeli army refusers: ‘We will not participate in genocide’

Conscientious objectors Yuval Moav, Itamar Greenberg, and Oryan Mueller explain why they are willing to go to jail in order to stand against the war.

By Oren Ziv August 7, 2024

Israeli teenagers sign their names onto a letter declaring their refusal to enlist in the army and serve a dictatorship in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories, Gimnasia Herzliya, Tel Aviv, September 3, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

A lesson on Israeli ‘democracy’ from an 18-year-old draft refuser

Previous generations of Israelis closed their eyes to the oppression of Palestinians, Mizrahim, and asylum seekers. Our generation can be different.

By Yahli Agai September 5, 2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with the media during a security tour of the Palmachim Air Force base, on October 27, 2019. (Marc iIrael Sellem/POOL)

Bibi is unmoved by air force refusers — the occupation doesn’t need them

The prime minister's indifference to threats by over 1,000 reserve pilots shows that when it comes to Israel’s security, he’s been bluffing the whole time.

By Meron Rapoport August 22, 2023

Israeli soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade are sworn into the army, Ammunition Hill, Jerusalem, November 11, 2021. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

How mass army refusal is forcing Israelis to rethink their red lines

The dissent of thousands of reserve soldiers offers a rare opening for Israelis to question the army’s primary function: maintaining the occupation.

By Ariel Bernstein August 13, 2023

Young protesters burn their draft orders for the Israeli army during a protest against the government in Tel Aviv, April 1, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

These Israeli youth are burning their draft orders — and no longer feeling alone

Left-wing high schoolers describe how the anti-government protests have provided a window for the mainstreaming of views long deemed illegitimate.

By Oren Ziv May 24, 2023

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)

A mass wave of Israeli army refusal could be a transformative moment

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

By Shimri Zameret March 5, 2023

Israeli conscientious objector Adam Rafaelov. (Mesarvot)

Israeli conscientious objector sent to prison for seventh time

Adam Rafaelov will have served a total of 87 days in prison for refusing to join the IDF over its ‘continual, violent, and oppressive rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.’ By +972 Magazine Staff An IDF disciplinary body sentenced Israeli conscientious objector Adam Rafaelov to 10 days in military prison last Friday for his…

By +972 Magazine December 9, 2018