Why some young Israelis refuse to fight in Gaza

Front Burner

Since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s health ministry, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign against Hamas. Recently, the ministry also began reporting a new kind of toll: deaths by starvation. 180 people, including 93 children, are now reported to have died from hunger. This comes after months of Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that “there is no starvation in Gaza”. But his statements stand in stark contrast to a large body of evidence from aid agencies, verified images and eyewitnesses.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a growing number of Israelis protesting the crisis in Gaza. Along with these demonstrators, we’ve also seen a number of teenage Israelis who are publicly refusing the draft.

They’re choosing prison time rather than fighting a military campaign they oppose in Gaza, and speaking out publicly against what they see as a moral crisis.

Soul Behar Tsalik is one of them. He shares what led him to that decision, the cost of dissent, and how Israelis are reacting to the world’s attention on the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

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