Tal Mitnick, the first Israeli detention, because after the attacks on October 7th, he had rejected the mandatory compulsory military service, leaning back in his headquarters in the Saint Paul University’s auditorium in Ottawa.
On December 26, 2023, Mitnick came to one Attitude Center in Central Tel Aviv and publicly announced that he would refuse to serve with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“I had the choice: to be part of this force that my neighbors currently enjoyed, that kills people’s loved ones, or I had the choice to refuse,” he told CBC News.
It was arrested for five consecutive 30-day penalties, and the maximum refusal of rejection of the Israeli law was received.
The 19-year-old, who was released from Israeli prison for medical reasons in July, is on a cross-canada tour with Refusenik Eintro, who rejected military service in 2022. The tour organized by local chapters of independent Jewish voices, a representative group of interests, runs throughout March in cities of Quebec to British -Kolumbia.
Around 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attacks on October 7, 2023 led by the Hamas, which many views for the worst one -day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The attack promoted Israel’s invasion in Gaza, in which, according to local health authorities, more than 48,500 Palestinians were killed in the field.
Some young Israelis believe that a more Pacific approach would have been better to bring the Israelis and Palestinians permanent peace.
A small but growing number of Israelis refuses mandatory entries or to return to their military duty after tours Gaza. But only a few do this publicly. The military duty is mandatory for most Israeli men and women and the rejection of prison terms as well as social and professional setbacks.
“As the first public evidence (since October 7) we did not know what the military would do with me,” said Mitnick. “I went back again and again, every time I got the maximum sentence until I reached 185 days.”
IDF ‘convicted rejections’
In a statement on CBC News, the IDF said that the mandatory attitude in the country’s security service is defined and that the military “corresponds to the implementation of the law and recruitment according to it”. The statement continues to say that she “convicts rejections”.
With regard to Mitnick, the IDF said that a professional committee found that there were “no conscientious reasons for its claims” to reject the entry. After he had “vehemently” rejected, he was sentenced to prison, said the IDF.
Mattan Helman is Executive Director of Refuser Solidarity Network, an organization that supports the refusal during their sentences and provides information about their online stories. He said that he was publicly refusing. However, he encourages practice to spread the word that it is an option for Israeli conscripts, including those who condemn the extent of violence in Gaza and believe that the only way to get Israeli hostages back can be traced back by a deal with Hamas.
“We should look at it like an iceberg, there are those who publicly refuse at the top of the iceberg that lies above the water, and the majority that refuses in a different way that is under water,” Helman told CBC News about Zoom.
Although the RSN has no precise figures for rejection, Mattan said that there are “thousands” and that the numbers have increased since October 7, “especially for reserve soldiers”.
Surviving prison
On the day of his rejection, videos and pictures of Mitnick, social media flooded. During a protest outside of his operating office, people sang and wave together with him.
“It was strange that the protest around me focused on. I am not really used to that things are concentrating around me,” he says. The teenager said he shit out of the spotlight and admits that he makes “a little uncomfortable”.
But he said that this moment was a turning point for his life as an activist. Here he met many of his current friends, supporters and people who would help him on his trip in prison and beyond.
“I am very blessed to have found this activist circle of people who have the same opinions as I and support me,” he said.
The weekend morning show (Manitoba)23:05Why two young Israelis rejected their mandatory military service.
The 21-year-old Einat Gerlitz and the 19-year-old valley Mitnick refused to serve in the Israeli army and were therefore sent to the military prison. You are in Winnipeg as part of your intercanadic “Refusenik Tour”, which is organized by independent Jewish Voices Canada.
Mitnick said his time in prison revolved around his ability to survive. His fellow prisoners didn’t know why with nod was imprisoned and he was careful when he shared his political opinions.
Some fellow prisoners finally started to recognize him in prison, he said, adding that he would be “this type from the social media videos”.
Mitnick is a self-proclaimed leftist who was inspired by his father, a journalist from whom he said he had spent a lot of time in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, who told stories from the Palestinian side.
“Politics has always been a thing that we talked about in the house,” he said. “And it was very present in the fact that something had to change.”
What comes next takes a moment to formulate his thoughts as if he feels the weight of the question to his conscience.
“Inshallah, ” He says and uses the Arabic term for God who wants. “The walls will fall and everyone will live in peace and freedom.”
