Q&A: Refusal to Participate in an Operation in Gaza
Refusal to Participate in an Operation in Gaza
Question
What is the Rabbi's view on refusing to take part in an operation in the Gaza Strip, if and when there is one?
I serve as a reserve combat officer, and I understand that by virtue of that I have a certain commitment that is detached from the question of whether I agree or disagree with government policy. However, there is a feeling that the Israeli government has no policy at all, and that previous operations have hardly produced results on the ground, while soldiers and friends were killed and wounded in vain. Is it moral to refuse to go out on an operation as long as the Israeli government does not set clear goals for whose sake we are going out to the operation and give the IDF the tools to achieve them?
Answer
Truth be told, I wrestled a lot with this question. On the face of it, it makes no sense to risk your life in a place where you have no confidence that the right decisions are being made (in which case the risk is in vain). On the other hand, there is room for the argument that somewhere up there in the government they see things that we do not see. The fact is that no one there is proposing any other idea (although I too have written that in my estimation this is merely helplessness and a lack of intellectual and political imagination, and apparently cowardice as well).
Therefore I will answer only on the principled level. To justify refusal, clear certainty is required that the decision-making echelon is mistaken, and I do not know whether that is indeed the case here, so I cannot express an opinion on the factual level (whether they are mistaken/failing or not, and to what extent). But on the principled level I will say that if in your opinion that is indeed the situation, and you have a very high degree of certainty, there is justification for refusal. By the way, I have already written here more than once that refusal in such a situation improves the system rather than destroying it, as they are always drumming into us. Absolute obedience usually leads to poor decision-making (because there is no fear of criticism or refusal).
And one more comment. In your view, the mistake of the political and military echelon has to be such that in your opinion the sacrifice/risking of your life and the lives of your comrades is in vain—that is, that no human lives are being saved. If the mistake is that, in your opinion, there is a more effective way to act, but even this way has some benefit (it delays the attacks and the rocket fire, saves the lives of soldiers or civilians, etc.), it seems to me that this is not a mistake that justifies refusal. Note that this consideration makes the decision to refuse even harder.
As for myself, I do not know what I would do if I were required to fight in such a situation. I think that when there is doubt, one does not refuse (as they say: if there is doubt, there is no doubt).