AS SEEN ON FOX AND CNN: Netanyahu's Nephew Refuses Occupation Army Duty

IDF seen changing its attitude towards conscientious objectors
By Ellis Shuman May 29, 2003


The trial of Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's nephew, Yonatan Ben-Artzi, the conscientious objector who refuses to be drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, opened yesterday in the army's Jaffa Military Court. Yesterday, the army inducted a conscientious objector who will serve his required army service in civilian clothing, and recently "refusenik" soldiers were allowed to serve their reserve duties within the Green Line.

Ben-Artzi, 20, had asked for a draft exemption due to his pacifist beliefs. Most of the time since his induction into the army, he has been jailed in military prisons while his lawyers argued unsuccessfully to present his case in civil courts. Ben-Artzi's request for a draft exemption due to his pacifist beliefs was rejected by the IDF's Conscience Committee.

At his court-martial trial yesterday, Ben-Artzi testified that he had his pacifist beliefs since childhood, when he refused to get into fights. His "turning point" was the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, the suicide bombings of 1996 and the election of his uncle as prime minister, Ben-Artzi testified.

Another incident that made a serious impression on him was his visit to the Verdun cemetery in France, where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed in World War One. "I saw the rows and rows of graves," he said, quoted in The Guardian in March. "Then I realized the stupidity of it. So many lives sacrificed and they didn't really know what they were fighting for. They were never told the truth."

Of his visit before the army's Conscience Committee, Ben-Artzi told The Guardian, "No one has ever been accepted as a pacifist. Israel is the only country that officially declares there are no pacifists. It's politics. The only type of conscientious objection they recognize is from the Jewish religion."

Other Israeli youths have been imprisoned for their refusal to serve in the army; some were imprisoned for refusal to serve in the so-called "occupied territories." Two years ago, a group of 62 high school seniors wrote a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stating their refusal to cooperate in "acts of oppression against the Palestinian people" and bringing the issue of conscientious objection to army service to the attention of the Israeli public?.

In addition, the so-called "Officers' Letter" circulated in January 2002, drawing attention and criticism at IDF reserve officers and combat soldiers announcing their refusal to serve in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the grounds that the army was abusing and humiliating the Palestinian population. The letter has gathered 541 signatures to date.

Is the IDF changing its policies?
For the first time, a "pacifist" soldier was inducted into the IDF ranks yesterday and granted permission to serve in a non-combat role in civilian clothes. Ronen Rotem, 18, a "refusenik" from Haifa who has objected to the "occupation" of the Palestinian territories, will serve in the Home Front Command's gasmask distribution unit and will not be required to swear allegiance to the IDF.

Rotem had asked to fulfill his military commitment by performing national service duties, such as those performed by religious girls in lieu of military service, Maariv reported. The army rejected his request and ordered him to serve time in uniform. When he refused, Rotem was sentenced to military prison.

Yesterday, Rotem was shocked to learn that the army had decided to offer him a lenient and tempting compromise, the newspaper reported. According to an agreement reached with the army, Rotem will not be required to serve in the territories, handle a weapon or undergo basic training. The army also agreed to forgo on requiring Rotem to swear his allegiance to the IDF. Rotem had said this would acknowledge the army's "occupation," to which he is ardently opposed.

According to Maariv, Ben-Artzi had been offered a similar "non-combat" role in the IDF, but Ben-Artzi refused. Ben-Artzi told the military court yesterday that senior IDF officers had offered him "easy, comfortable service terms, without basic training, uniforms or weapons."

Two weeks ago, Maariv reported exclusively that the IDF had indicated it was changing its policies towards reservists who refused to serve in the territories. The newspaper gave, as example, call-up notices that specifically stated the reserve duties would be fulfilled within the Green Line.

Reserve duty soldiers told Maariv that instead of being sent repeatedly to military prisons for refusing to serve in the territories, they were now fulfilling other military duties, or in some cases being excused altogether from service.

In response to the Maariv article, the IDF said that the call-up notices specifying reserve duties within the Green Line had been the result of clerical errors, and were not the result of a change in military policies.