The real breach of contract between citizen and country
'Refusal would not have been tolerated then and shall not be tolerated now'
The relatively short combat was the enemy’s first hello to us. C company of 1st battalion, the brigade’s front guard, entered an anti-tank (AT) and explosive charges ambush at the town’s square.
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) dispatched from the south-west flank missed the 3rd platoon commander’s tank by a fraction and hit an adjacent building. The next two RPGs fired from the northern side of town slammed the tank, one at the front shielding plate and the other close to the turret, injuring the driver.
The prompt and accurate response was lethal, while taking small arm fire and charges detonated at them, the tanks’ crews engaged and eliminated the AT squad. The rest of the militants fled the town while they could and went off-grid.
Brigade’s command was then able to safely deploy in Marj-Ayun moments before sunrise. My combat engineering battalion was not directly involved in this battle, during this war we mostly executed overnight extractions under fire.
I served five years in the regular army and almost 25 years as a reservist in trainings or operations, during the boiling-hot summer or pouring with rain and freezing-cold winter. I attended service even while I was an undergraduate student at the University of NSW or during my work for an IT company on Sydney’s north shore. The transition was always radical; from the laid-back Aussie lifestyle to a disciplined soldier, a company commander, within less than 30 hours.
The second Lebanon War in 2006 was one of the most justified wars my unit and I have ever participated in. Nonetheless, a heavy feeling smouldered on inside me throughout; the faint government that sent me to this war only a year earlier had deported thousands of Jews from their homes, in the mega-blunder that turned the Gaza strip into what it has become.
These people, who dedicated their whole beings to the country, were treated as if they were worthless, their rights thrown into the garbage bin. Their protests were brutally suppressed, thousands were detained, and some 600 indictments were served against them, including against 14-year-old girls.
I have never lived in a settlement but I, among many others, felt for these people, deeply sympathised with their struggle, and vehemently supported it. They never thought for one instant to undermine the foundations on which this country is erected, to speak against it, or to even play with the idea of having the right to refuse army service.
Learned people, during the present public strife, say today’s refusal is completely different. Some reserve IAF pilots and intelligence community soldiers argue the judicial overhaul is a “breach” of the contract between the country and its citizens, and that they are not willing to serve a non-democratic country.
Essentially, they are right, nobody would. Only this claim is predicated on the obviously irrational assumption that the current legislation is aimed at stymying the judiciary and will lead to destroying Israel’s democracy.
Many other citizens – including the vast majority of reservists in significant positions, who are not less educated, liberal, pluralist, Zionist or democratic – perceive it differently. They never refused in the past. Imagine fighters in armoured divisions or infantry regiments refusing to serve simply because the legislation is not as advanced as they expect.
It is a dance on thin ice, a danger to those who refuse, their families and everyone who lives in this country. This is the real breach of contract. Their blessed contribution is not more important than that of others. Nobody has the right to even mention refusal as an option under any circumstances, especially not when our enemies are probing Israel’s patience.
Is this what we inherited from the people who fought and perished for this country for so many years? Is this what we want to bequeath to the next generations? Is this really the place where we want to take political quarrels to? Proportion.
One could voice substantial arguments that can be discussed, but do not use the country’s dependency to extort the government and impose political approaches on others. Personal views should be kept away from our army. Refusal would not have been tolerated then and shall not be tolerated now, or ever.
Eyal Reuveni is an Israeli-Australian currently living in Israel, CTO of an IT consulting firm and a former IDF reserve commanding officer (major) in the combat engineering corps.
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