The Gvura Families of the Fallen Forum on Monday called on Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara to prosecute individuals who call for refusal to serve in the IDF.
“We are reaching out to you from a place of pain and from a sense of national duty,” wrote the forum, which said it represents 350 bereaved families.
The forum said that on October 7, its members’ loved ones stood to fight without hesitation and without questions.“They understood the emergency and defended the country and its future with their bodies and their souls,” it said. “They fought bravely on several fronts to defeat the enemy and return our hostages – missions that have yet to be fulfilled. Our loved ones, however, will never return.”
Given that reality, they said it is hard for them to hold space for the dialogue taking place over the last few days by fringe groups on socials and in the media – dialogue that includes draft refusal and even calls to do so publicly.“These calls are not just severe from a public and moral perspective; they are also illegal.”
Public calls have emerged over the last few weeks for reservists to stay home. After a year and a half of service, many reservist families and businesses are cracking under the financial, emotional, and psychological challenges.Many have begun to see the war as a political tool and have lost the drive to fight, while at the same time feeling a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood with their fellow soldiers.
Additionally, much of the public has been enraged at the government for calling soldiers up yet again for service while postponing a law that would draft eligible haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men, which would lighten the load on the current reservists and help rectify an unfair service distribution.
Before October 7, a fairly small number of people actually did reserve duty on a consistent basis despite the legal basis requiring it. There wasn’t much of a need, so the law wasn’t enforced very strictly.
Now, in theory, the army is much stricter because there is a much greater need, but in reality, there is only so much that can be done.
If a significant number of people decided not to show up, there really wouldn’t be a way to punish them all. When someone publicly refuses, though, they become more of a target of punishment, likely so that an example can be made.
Silence is a 'knife in the back,' forum says
The Gvura Forum asked that the legal processes be fulfilled to prosecute anyone who refuses to draft.
It added, “Especially right now, when the war still rages, this is the time to be supportive and give all we can to the IDF so that victory can be ensured. Any silence by law enforcement is effectively a knife in the back to those who are serving and to their families.”
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.