Point / Counterpoint: No place for political objectors

Counterpoint to:

Father, forgive me, I will not fight for your Israel 
Recently, Omer Goldman refused to serve in the army, was tried and was sent to prison for 21 days. This week she will be tried again - and again, until the army tires or she tires."

Igal Sarna
The Sunday Times (London)
October 12, 2008

Igal Sarna, writing in The Sunday Times, tells the story of Omer Goldman, a political objector, who is refusing to serve in the IDF. She is currently incarcerated in a military prison. Omer is not a pacifist, - she is not against armies in general; rather she holds strong political views in opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. According to the Sunday Times, Omer is the daughter of a former senior member of the Mossad.

While pondering Omer's actions, I recalled my own military service in the IDF, including twenty-five years in the reserves, and the service of my three children, - two daughters and a son. Each of us could have easily refused to serve, as Omer did, - Lord knows we had plenty to object to - but we didn't.

My mulling led me to the lore of Jewish humor and to the story of a Jewish shipwreck survivor being rescued from a desert island. He proudly shows his rescuers what he has built over 20 years; a luxurious log cabin, and an Ashkenazi synagogue. His rescuers inquire about another building further away, and the survivor explains that it's a Sephardi synagogue, which he visits occasionally. His rescuers then inquire about a third building over on a hill. "That," says the survivor, "is the synagogue I would never go to."

The story illustrates the Jewish love of squabbling; a characteristic inherited by the Jewish state, and so clearly epitomized by the multi-sectarian composition of the Knesset.

A love of squabbling is fine, perhaps even quaint, in a society that does not have to run a country. But after Israel's 1948 declaration of independence, David Ben-Gurion recognized the dangers of such a national trait when, in the face of substantial opposition, he ordered the dissolution of the Palmach, and the assault on the Irgun weapons ship, Altalena. These assertive actions led to the integration of the Palmach and the Irgun into Israel's new national army (the IDF).  

Ben-Gurion didn't end the squabbling, but he did get an important message across to the people of the new state of Israel: the importance of a single united army that answers only to the legitimate government of the state. Anything less would lead to a dysfunctional government and ultimately to the collapse of the state.

Omer Goldman's actions also got me thinking about one of the most honorable principles of the IDF; something called 'an obviously illegal order'. Israeli soldiers are not required to obey all orders without question at all times. They are obligated by law to exercise judgment and they always carry the burden of that obligation. Israeli soldiers are not zombies; they are expected to think. 

But they are required to carry out legal orders, even when they don't agree with them. This too is an important principle, without which there can be no functioning government and no state. That is why I, and my three children, fulfilled our duty as citizens, in the IDF.

The IDF is not an army of volunteers; it is a people's army where most Jewish citizens serve. True, some do not serve because they are unfit, or because serving contravenes their religion, or because they are pacifists. As unfortunate as these exceptions are, we accept them, even though together they represent a significant minority.

What we cannot accept is a refusal to serve for purely political reasons. And this is where my thoughts return to Omer Goldman. You see there may well be thousands of young people who hold political views similar to hers. And if Israel withdraws from the West Bank, as events seem to indicate that it might, there will be thousands with opposite political views to those held by Omer, who may want to disassociate themselves from the IDF in order to make their own political statement. And this too would be totally unacceptable and would similarly endanger the state.

How about the fact that there are not many objectors like Omer, who refuse to serve, and therefore the damage is minimal? We must still reject her behavior, because, like David Ben-Gurion, we must get an important message across to the people: the army is out of bounds when it comes to politics. We cannot survive with a politicized army, and even though there are occasional lapses in the way we apply this principle, it must be the goal towards which we strive.

Israel's democracy provides many legitimate avenues for civil protest. In this country, civil protests have influenced national policy, and have even brought down governments, and that is one of our strengths as a nation. Omer Goldman should take her political dissent to the civil arena. Her voice will be heard, and if she convinces enough people, she will influence national policy. But she must keep her politics away from the Israel Defense Forces. 

That is why she is in jail.