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On Tal Mitnick\u2019s first morning inside an Israeli military prison last month, he was ordered into a small classroom. Pinned to its walls were various famous quotes. One caught his attention: \u201cEducation is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.\u201d The name beneath it: Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n
\u201cI nearly laughed to myself,\u201d says the 18-year-old, speaking over Zoom from the bedroom of his family\u2019s Tel Aviv home. \u201cA military upholding apartheid putting that<\/em> on their wall,\u201d he says, \u201cwhile South Africa was preparing its case against Israel for the international criminal court? I pointed out how ridiculous this quote being there was. No other prisoners engaged or agreed. I realised how alone I was.\u201d<\/p>\n In late December, Mitnick refused his mandatory draft to join the Israel Defense Forces. As a result, a military court sentenced him to 30 days in custody, making him the first conscientious objector to be jailed in Israel since 7 October. He spoke to the Guardian late on Friday afternoon, one day after his release. Over the weekend, Mitnick spent time with friends and family and attended an anti-war march. This freedom will be short-lived. \u201cI\u2019ve already had my draft order from the army for Tuesday morning. Again, I\u2019ll go to the military base and tell them I refuse to serve. Again, I\u2019ll be sent to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n No policy dictates how long this cycle might continue. Often refusers spend stints totalling 100 days or more locked away, after which the IDF eventually concludes they\u2019re unfit for service.<\/p>\n Mitnick\u2019s last enlistment date was 26 December 2023. \u201cI was due to enlist that day, yes, but so were many others. My peers were there \u2013 with their mothers, fathers and siblings, too, all knowing they were sending their children off to maybe risk their lives.\u201d He counted other conscripts in their hundreds. \u201cSeeing someone else there, in this case me, refusing to do the same? It creates clashes. A lot either ignored me and kept walking, or said just a few words as they passed. They\u2019d call us traitors, say it should have been me in Be\u2019eri<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n A small protest had been organised by Mesarvot<\/a> \u2013 a network supporting refuseniks \u2013 to show support for Mitnick outside the Tel HaShomer military base, his conscription location. Friends and family were also more understanding. \u201cThey know what I want is moderate, non-violent and peaceful,\u201d he explains, \u201ceven if my outlook isn\u2019t the norm here.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitnick said he had known he wouldn\u2019t serve for many years. While he studied maths and computer science at school, a teacher suggested his natural aptitudes would suit a role in an elite intelligence unit. \u201cSo I looked into it more. Intelligence units, I learned, blackmail LGBTQ+ Palestinians<\/a> and people needing health treatment in Israel into being informants. I started to see how the system is built on oppression. Once I realised this, I knew I had to not only refuse, but also work against it.\u201d<\/p>\n The events of 7 October only affirmed his decision. \u201cIsrael has already lost this war,\u201d he believes. \u201cMore killing and more violence won\u2019t bring back the lives lost on 7 October. I know people are hurt. Traumatised. But this doesn\u2019t make anything better. To root out extremist ideas from Palestinian society, we must root them out in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n And so, once inside the military base last month, Mitnick presented the recruitment officer with his ID. \u201cI said: \u2018No, I\u2019m not doing this.\u2019 I was yelled at, told I had no choice. I had to stand up for myself.\u201d He was sent from commander to commander. \u201cTo each of them, I said the same thing: I believe there is no military solution to this conflict. I\u2019m a pacifist.\u201d<\/p>\n For first-time refuseniks, seven to 10 days is a standard sanction. On 26 December, Mitnick received 30 days to be spent at a prison just outside the town of Kfar Yona.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see myself as the hero or anything,\u201d he says, \u201cwhile people are being massacred every day in Gaza. And I want to stress I\u2019m by no means the only one. There are other anti-occupation activists. People opting to not join the army. Peace campaigners, young and old. But at the same time, I do think this takes bravery.\u201d<\/p>\n Online, at least, some pro-Palestine voices have questioned the praise being poured on Mitnick, suggesting refusing to participate in the slaughtering of civilians is the very least to be expected. \u201cThere is a huge social consequence here for refusing to serve,\u201d he says, \u201cespecially doing so publicly. Israeli society is so militarised that most conversations start with \u2018Where did you serve?\u2019 or \u2018Where are you serving?\u2019 When you say you didn\u2019t, don\u2019t or won\u2019t, a gap opens up. I\u2019m paying a price for this. I was born in Israel \u2013 I didn\u2019t choose to live here. We have a test at 18, the country and system tests us to see if we\u2019ll be complicit. I chose not to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The events of 7 October shifted political paradigms inside Israel. \u201cEven four months ago,\u201d says Mitnick, \u201cwe were in the middle of the judicial reform protests<\/a>.\u201d He played an active part in the demonstrations. \u201cThe refusal movement was gaining traction. Now the supposed liberals, that protested judicial reform, are pilots massacring people in Gaza. People who were speaking out about government corruption are now supporting the far-right leadership, saying there are no civilians in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n Hitpakhut<\/em> is a term much-used in Israel today. \u201cIt means sobering up. Lots of Israeli liberals who were vaguely pro-peace are now for Gaza\u2019s destruction. They say they were high, drunk on the fantasy of peace; now they\u2019ve sobered up and say we have to kill the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n Prison life, for Mitnick, took some adjustment. \u201cYou\u2019re treated like a soldier inside a military jail,\u201d he says. \u201cStaff aren\u2019t called guards, but commanders. Some of the day is spent being told to stand in line for hours while they talk to you. Otherwise, you eat, clean your room, maybe rest. Then repeat, over and over.\u201d Access to media was limited. \u201cThe only regular news source is the rightwing daily paper Israel HaYom,\u201d he says. Occasionally, a news programme would air on his in-cell TV, although domestic broadcasters have all but ignored Mitnick and the wider anti-war movement. \u201cThe media is trying to manufacture consent to kill and massacre more and more,\u201d is Mitnick\u2019s explanation. \u201cIf they show my opinion, suggesting there\u2019s another way, it undermines what the government is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitnick was reluctant to tell other inmates why he was inside. \u201cI was mostly in prison with deserters. People who served in the military then didn\u2019t come back. Mostly, that\u2019s for socioeconomic reasons.\u201d Few, if any, shared his political position. \u201cI knew I couldn\u2019t keep it a secret the whole time,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I talked. Initially, I was called stupid and naive. Worse, too.\u201d<\/p>\n But he had the conversations. \u201cHumanising my opinion is important. One guy I got to know heard other prisoners talking about me behind my back, and then defended me. He told them I don\u2019t support Hamas, I just want peace.\u201d<\/p>\n In truth, Mitnick knows, his generation of Israelis doesn\u2019t broadly agree. \u201cYoung people here are more rightwing than their parents<\/a>,\u201d he says. Peace activists have been arrested<\/a> and face public condemnation.<\/p>\n \u201cI still remain hopeful,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the privilege to lose hope here. I hope more and more young people my age see that it\u2019s not normal to live in constant fear of terrorist attacks, nor to enlist 18-year-olds into the army. Nothing here is normal, and we have the power to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday morning, Mitnick returns to Tel HaShomer. He faces another prolonged stretch in custody. \u201c<\/em>There\u2019s no end date to this in sight,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich isn\u2019t easy. Inside, I wasn\u2019t counting down the days. Here, I\u2019m not celebrating being out either. This is simply a step I have to take. At some point, they\u2019ll have to release me.\u201d<\/p>\n default<\/p>\n<\/div>\n