'I won't enlist into an army that's committing genocide'

The Israeli military is facing a growing crisis as many young people burn their draft papers, and reservists refuse to take part in Benjamin Netanyahu's war on Gaza

- By Bel Trew

Yona, 19, an Israeli activist, burned her military conscription papers knowing she would be immediately be sentenced to jail.

She is blunt in her reasoning for doing so. “I am refusing because my country is committing genocide and I will not enlist into an army that’s committing genocide,” she says. “I have no doubts in my mind that this is the right thing to do.”

She is part of a growing movement of Israeli teenagers refusing the draft and taking a stand against the Israeli government’s devastating 22-month bombardment of Gaza.

Shortly after burning her papers outside the enlistment centre in Haifa at the weekend, she was sentenced to 30 days in prison.

Speaking to The Independent just before being incarcerated, Yona, a transgender woman, said she knew prison wouldn’t be easy: the last transgender woman “refusenik” was held in solitary confinement. But she remains determined.

“I think it’s a very simple moral and political question. The imperative is that we withhold ourselves as a resource from the state. That we do everything in our power to resist and end this horrible crime.”

She is part of a movement of youth, most of them members of Mesarvot - or “refusers” in Hebrew - which supports conscientious objectors that are horrified by Israel’s war in Gaza. They have staged regular protests, publicly burning their papers and marching towards the border crossing with Gaza to break Israel's blockade on the besieged strip.

Alongside the refuseniks, there has also been a parallel surge in soldiers refusing to show up to reserve duty – with reports in Israeli media saying in the last major offensive that as many as 100,000 have effectively deserted.