Israeli medics refuse to serve in Gaza in anger over war aims

Small but growing number of medical 'refusenik' conscientious objectors are leaving army

Protesters in Tel Aviv call for the return of Gaza hostages and an end to the war. Dissenting voices from the public are now being joined by those from the Israeli military and reservists. Reuters

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Since the 1980s, Tuly Flint had been at the heart of Israel’s military, first as a combat soldier, a platoon commander and eventually as a high-ranking officer.

Despite decades of service and a growing shortage of reservists after 18 months of conflict in Gaza, Mr Flint has cut ties with the army in moral opposition to the war.

“People talk about the killings, but we forget that in Gaza now there are tens of thousands of orphans, as well as mutilated kids and families,” Mr Flint told The National.

“We as Israelis are the ones who did this. This is unbearable, un-Jewish, un-Israeli, unhumanistic. I’m not ashamed of being Israeli but I’m ashamed of what Israel is doing.”

He became disillusioned with the army after the 2014 war in Gaza and became a peace campaigner, but was convinced to rejoin after superiors asked him to serve following the events of October 7, 2023.

Six months into the current war, he had had enough. The decision put him in a small group of Israelis who withdrew from the service out of political conviction.

There are plenty of reservists who leave for health, personal or financial reasons, while polling consistently shows that others are troubled by the direction the war on Gaza is going. The government’s efforts to recover hostages held in the strip, or lack of, draw large public protests.

But few reservists are willing to live with the broken taboo of opposing their government from the ranks and, quite often, the hate that comes with being a conscientious objector in Israel today.

Mr Flint’s objection is rarer and harder for many of his compatriots to accept. Despite a long reservist career on the battlefield, the latter part of his time in the military was as a mental health officer, specialising in post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Refusing as a medic is much more complicated than refusing as a combatant, when the worst-case scenario is that someone else will carry your rifle and do your job,” he said. “When you’re a renowned trauma expert, it’s different.

“Refusing to work with the army is the hardest decision I ever took … but at the same time, I feel that by refusing I'm saving lives.”

Mr Flint stressed that he is still committed to treating soldiers outside the “umbrella of the military”, and still lectures on PTSD and volunteers with sufferers – Palestinian and Israeli.

“If enough people refuse, the government and the military will have to consider how they behave and find new solutions,” he said.

“The army should be a tool in the hands of the government and we are saying we are not giving you this tool now, because the solution you're choosing is the wrong one.”

There are signs that pressure from reservists, be they outward conscientious objectors or something more subtle, is mounting.

Last week, almost 1,000 veterans and reservists of the Israeli Air Force signed a letter calling on the government to immediately retrieve the hostages in Gaza through a deal with Hamas.

It also called for an end to fighting in the strip, which it said was now driven by the political interests of the government, not state security. Israel’s Air Force is arguably the most prestigious branch of the armed forces and has been central to the country’s campaigns across the Middle East since October 7.

Hours after the military announced it would dismiss reservists who signed the letter, about 150 navy veterans wrote their own, echoing the same message. There were then similar letters from members of the armoured corps, cyber experts, intelligence, infantry and special forces.

The military maintained that the ratio of veterans to actual reservist signatories in the initial air force letter was very low. However, even a small number of such vital personnel walking away, which could trigger more, is a deeply worrying trend for the leadership.

Israeli outlet Ynet reported on Monday that the new Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a shortage of soldiers could prevent the army from achieving the objectives the government is asking of it. Maj Gen Zamir also reportedly criticised the lack of a broader plan beyond the use of military force.

This comes about a month after Israel broke a ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas and launched some of the most devastating fighting since the war in Gaza began. The country has not only carried out massive bombing and ground campaigns but also plans to change the nature of Gaza itself, by occupying and depopulating many areas and encouraging the permanent displacement of its Palestinian population to other countries.

These plans have been condemned internationally but, with an apparently supportive US administration, Israel seems undeterred. Mr Flint and fellow objectors hope their actions, alongside the letters, might apply a type of pressure from within that cannot be ignored.

“It might sound absurd but the most patriotic act today is to refuse,” Mr Flint said.

“If 10,000 soldiers would refuse out in the open – and if 1,000 parents gathered at the border to stop the army convoys from going in – the governments of all the world, including the Arab countries and Hamas, would understand that they need to find another solution instead of continuing with this killing and mutilating of each other.”

The National spoke to another medical conscientious objector who worked in detainment facilities holding Gazans after the war broke out.

“The most crucial thing is that I don’t think this war has any purpose any more,” the man said.

“It’s not going anywhere and was restarted mainly for political reasons. The political echelon cannot justify the killing of another hostage, soldier or an innocent in Gaza. There is no justification for killing people to preserve the Netanyahu coalition. That is the main reason why I think this war is no longer just.

“For the first six months, people thought this is our war of existence,” he added. “Some people still think that, but more and more are having doubts about where this is all going.”