Another Israeli Teenager To Report To Jail Instead Of War

SUPPORT ISRAELI CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

In December 2023, 18-year-old Israeli Tal Mitnick was sentenced to 30 days for refusing to be conscripted into the Israeli military. The same week that Tal refused for the third time to report to the military and received a third term in prison, he was joined by fellow teenager Sofia Orr. “I reject participating in the violent policies of oppression and apartheid that Israel has imposed on the Palestinian people, especially now during the war,” she said. Now, Tal and Sofia have been joined by Ben Arad. Read Ben’s Refusal Statement.

It’s not the sentences Tal, Sofia, and Ben are enduring that make their actions exceptional. They have options. In fact, 12 percent of conscripted Israelis get out of service through notoriously easy-to-obtain mental health exemptions. Instead of the 10-year terms that Russian draft evaders face, even when Israelis are sentenced for refusing, they receive consecutive sentences with breaks in between to see if they have changed their minds.

Tal, Sofia, and Ben are not being held indefinitely in overcrowded, abusive, deadly prison facilities like incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. But, what Tal, Sophia, and Ben are doing is heroic and places them within a legacy of great peacemakers. 

Tal News (8)

We’re running an ad in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz ‎הארץ calling for more Israelis to become conscientious objectors.

We’re over halfway to our $10,000 goal! Join us today!

You can support this effort by making a donation online and checking the “My donation is in support of Israeli COs” box below the dollar amount you are pledging to donate or sending a check to FOR P.O. Box 271 Nyack, NY 10960 with “Israeli COs” on the memo line.

Tal

Before reporting to Israel’s military court, Tal sent his solidarity to Turkish Cypriot CO Mustafa Hürben, “Mustafa and I will both be jailed today (23.1). International solidarity between us is the way to fight against oppressive systems in each of our countries.”

He posted the lyrics of the Anne Feeney song “Have You Been to Jail for Justice” on his social media account.

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