On Oct. 7, 2023, when the scale of Hamas’s massacre in Israel became clear, we went to war. The pain for those of us in the military was unbearable. The feeling that we had failed to protect our loved ones consumed me. Fueled by anger and guilt, we entered combat against a ruthless terror organization that showed with brutal clarity the depths of its cruelty.
I fought in Gaza for a year, first as a tank platoon commander and then as the deputy to my company commander. I led ground maneuvers inside the Gaza Strip, took Hamas strongholds and helped dismantle the group’s tunnels, weapons depots and command posts. Day by day, driven by duty, I confronted the stark reality of war: death and destruction at close range, the weight of irreversible decisions, the constant demand to act with clarity under fire.
As time passed, another harsh truth emerged: Our own state had lost its way. If we went to war on Oct. 7 to save what was dearest to us, it soon became clear to me that we were fighting because our leaders were never planning to stop. It was a war waged by nationalist populists who refused to pay the political price necessary to make the decisions to bring an end to the war, and instead demanded that we, the soldiers, the hostages and the Palestinians, pay it in blood.
Gaza became a lawless zone, with little effective oversight of the military and almost no personal accountability for soldiers. We came to wage a war without a timeline, without attainable goals, without an exit strategy — a status quo that undermines the idea of a modern state.
On Oct. 9, 2024, a group of Israel Defense Force soldiers, including me, issued a public letter declaring that our service had become untenable in light of Israel’s policy in Gaza and mounting evidence that the government was deliberately sabotaging hostage deals. My brigade commander immediately suspended me from my unit, despite the protests of my subordinate soldiers.
Today, as the government calls on tens of thousands of reservists to participate in the cruel re-occupation of Gaza City, I implore my fellow soldiers: Refuse to report. Thousands have already stopped showing up. Some have been sent to prison. Many remain silent. This is the time to speak. It is your duty.
Everyone who cares about Israel’s future must understand that what is at stake is not only lives but also the very idea of Israel itself. If we continue on this path and take permanent control over Gaza, nothing will remain of the fragile vision of a liberal democracy that once defined this state. Under a reckless nationalist-populist government that denies the limits of its own power, Israel has no sustainable future. Everyone who loves Israel, a country that once knew how to survive the impossible, must do all in their power to steer us away from this collision course.
Public refusal of military service is an almost unthinkable act in Israeli society, given the central place of the army in our national identity and how it shapes who we are as individuals. But my belief is basic to any democracy: Military power is an important tool, but a dangerous one. It is meant to serve political goals, not replace them. The moment force becomes an end in itself, it brings only destruction.
The plan to reoccupy Gaza City is not a measured military move but a symptom of an addiction to occupation by a government that knows only how to destroy, not build.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement last week about returning the Israeli team to the negotiating table was part of a familiar pattern. Every time public protest intensifies, he declares progress or a return to talks — only to let the process collapse again. The real question is why Israel ever leaves the table in the first place. Why are we being led instead of leading?
The Israeli government keeps selling the public an empty goal — “total victory” — as if it were strategy rather than marketing. Anyone with open eyes knows it is a lie. Hamas as a governing or military organization has long been defeated; I bet every senior security official knows this. Most Israelis, among them many active-duty soldiers, oppose this reckless course — including the I.D.F. chief of staff, who has openly voiced his opposition to reoccupying Gaza.
It is clear to all that this war will end with a deal. Every delay brings more casualties, more likelihood that hostages will not return alive and further erosion of Israel’s position with mediators and international partners.
Against this populism, against a government without a moral or political mandate to lead Israel, only public protest — especially by military reservists — can help force a change of course. Moments of national crisis have given rise to refusal movements that ultimately helped push societies to confront disastrous policies. They demonstrate that only those willing to pay a personal price to expose the lie can truly fight for the truth. It happened before in Israel, during the 1982 Lebanon war and the 2000-5 second intifada, and in the United States during the Vietnam War. Ministers pay no price. We, the soldiers, and so many others, do pay.
I am a Zionist. Israel has a right to repel its antagonists. I am not a pacifist and do not regret fighting. But precisely for that reason, I now understand this: To be brave today means to stop, to say, “No more.” With over 60,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead, according to Gazan health authorities, and growing starvation in the territory, with Israeli hostages languishing for nearly two years, this war has crossed every boundary. There is no longer any goal worth achieving by prolonging the war.
Every Zionist who believes in a Jewish and democratic state, every citizen who believes in the values for which we went to fight, must grasp that the responsibility is in our hands. Now is the time to say no to cooperation. No to silent consent. Refusing to serve is not betrayal of the state. It is the only way to save it.
Yotam Vilk is a reserve captain in the Israel Defense Forces and a member of Soldiers for the Hostages, an organization of I.D.F. veterans who served in Gaza and are refusing to return.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected].
Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp and Threads.
The post Refusing to Serve in Gaza Is the Only Way to Save Israel appeared first on New York Times.
