According to Israel’s Channel 13, at least two hundred Israeli teenagers announced in a joint letter that they will refuse to engage in military service.
A group of Isreali teenagers announced in a joint letter that they will refuse to engage in military service, in protest against the government’s judicial reforms, Israeli media reported.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the 12th graders “announced they would reveal the letter during a planned protest (in Tel Aviv) when the school year begins on September 3,” the Israeli newspaper The Times of Isreal reported.
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According to Israel’s Channel 13, at least two hundred Israeli teenagers have signed the letter so far.
The move comes amid growing protests and threats by thousands of reservists not to show up for duty, after the Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed the first bill of the controversial judicial overhaul last month.
According to The Times of Israel, “some of the reservists have since acted on this threat.” However, “no official figures have been made available on how many reservists have failed to show up for duty thus far,” the Israeli newspaper reported.
“The collapse of Fantasy Israel has exposed cracks in the social cohesion, and in the readiness of many Israelis to devote as much time and energy to military service as they did in the past,” Professor Ilan Pappé recently wrote in an article for The Palestine Chronicle.
“Moreover, the attack on the Israeli judicial system and the erosion of its alleged independence will expose Israeli soldiers and pilots to possible indictments as war criminals abroad,” Professor Pappé added.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
