Opposition to Gaza war grows among Israeli soldiers as strikes ramp up

TEL AVIV — Barely noticeable only a few months ago, opposition is growing about fresh Israeli operations in Gaza even among the country’s military reservists, some of whom have publicly called out the government for what they say is an immoral and politically motivated decision to continue the war.

“I refuse to commit war crimes,” Yuval Ben Ari told NBC News earlier this month. “The patriotic thing to do is to say no.”

“As an Israeli, as a human being, I’m calling the Israeli government to stop starving 2 million people,” he said, adding that he felt shame and guilt because “people inside Gaza are starving to death.”

As a reservist soldier, Ben Ari served two rotations inside Gaza, the first in the north of the enclave and the second in the south, and he is one of a growing number of former and current Israel Defense Forces personnel — including high-ranking commanders — who have voiced their concerns about the country’s conduct in the war.

This pushback has only grown after the Netanyahu government announced a major new operation dubbed “Gideon’s Chariot,” which began earlier this month.

Over 12,000 current and former service members signed a series of letters since the collapse of the ceasefire in March calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to end the war and declaring they will refuse to serve if it continues, according to Restart Israel, an activist group that tracks how many people oppose the government’s actions.

NBC News has approached the IDF for comment about the letters. In a statement to The Associated Press after one of the letters was released last month, the military said it should be “above all political dispute.”

Speaking in Israel’s southern city of Sderot, which sits a few hundred yards from the Gaza border, meaning the ruins in Gaza are visible and the sound of explosions and aircraft overhead are omnipresent, Ben Ari said he convinced the IDF to let him re-enlist after the Hamas-led terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Despite a leg injury, he said he felt he should join the army to protect his homeland. But during his first deployment in Gaza late last year, he said he quickly became disillusioned by the destruction he witnessed.

Sent to southern Gaza when Israel resumed its military campaign in March, Ben Ari said he came to the realization that he could no longer serve in good conscience. So a week into his monthlong rotation, he said he asked his commander to be relieved of his duty and made his way to the border.

As soon as he was back inside Israel, he wrote on social media, “I will no longer wear this uniform under the current government.”

While most of his friends and family applauded his stance, Ben Ari said, others called him a traitor and accused him of selfishness and abandoning the remaining hostages — criticism he said he expected. He later penned an anonymous article for Israel’s highly respected Haaretz newspaper about his experiences.

However, he is far from alone in expressing his disquiet after Israel shattered its ceasefire with Hamas in early March and imposed a blockade preventing food, fuel and medical supplies from entering Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 54,000 people since the current conflict began, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.

The IDF would not comment on the number of reservists it uses or the size of its overall forces.

“They are not saying, ‘Stop the war because we are tired,’” Guy Poran, a retired Israeli air force pilot, said in an interview at his home in Tel Aviv earlier this month. “They’re saying this war is not legitimate.”

Poran, 69, who helped initiate an anti-war letter signed by almost 1,200 current and former air force members, added that Netanyahu, who is currently on trial over allegations of bribery and fraud, “is deeply in trouble, indicted with very serious criminal charges.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the string of corruption probes.

Netanyahu’s political survival lies in the hands of his partners “on the extreme right,” Poran said, referring to ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, both of whom have threatened to bring down the government if Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas, while also calling for the total annihilation of the militant group and, more generally, the reoccupation and resettlement of Gaza by Israel.

Israel, Poran added, is held “hostage because of this blackmail.”

NBC News has approached Netanyahu’s office for comment.

One of the letter’s signatories, a major in the air force reserve, said they added their name because both the actions of the government and the way some ministers spoke freely about starving people in Gaza were not what you would see from “a normal, moral government,” and they thought the ministers were “losing it.”

“Somehow the military has to put a stop sign in front of them,” they added.

Asked about concerns from some reservists that the war was being conducted for political purposes, the IDF did not respond directly. “Reservists, who leave behind their families, daily routines, jobs, and studies to repeatedly stand in defense of the country’s security and its citizens, are a central pillar of the IDF’s strength,” it said in a statement.

In a separate interview, a lieutenant colonel in the air force reserve objected to the resumption of military activities in Gaza over fears that Israeli forces “will probably kill our own,” they said, referring to the 58 hostages who remain in captivity, although the majority are believed to be dead.

“This is a red line,” they said, adding that Netanyahu and his coalition were neglecting the hostages “in order to preserve their own government.”

NBC News agreed not to use their names because they feared for their safety and their jobs, although under Israeli law, employers must have a legitimate reason to fire someone and follow due process before terminating their employment.

The army has nonetheless dismissed or threatened to dismiss service reservists who signed the letter, according to The Associated Press.

Along with Poran and Ben Ari, both reservists spoke before Israel lifted its blockade on aid entering Gaza earlier this month, around three months after it began.

The move was condemned by Ben-Gvir, who called it “foolish” and “morally wrong” in a Monday post on X. Smotrich and Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu have previously been criticized for similar statements.

Poran said there was a growing feeling that “it has become a revenge war, and that too many civilians are being killed, innocent, children, women, unnecessarily,” Poran said.

“Even the army says it cannot be a long-term solution” he added. ”If we occupy there, we have to take care of their food, of their health, of their school system, of their sewage. Who’s going to do it?”

“You cannot just displace 2 million people,” Ben Ari said. “It’s inhuman.”