As we speak at his home in southern Israel, his two young children are sleeping in the next room. “There’s no way to fight the war and to prosecute a military campaign without these images happening,” he says. He then uses an expression heard in the past from Israeli leaders: “You can’t mow the lawn without grass flying up. It is not possible.”
He says the blame belongs to Hamas who went to “randomly slaughter as many Jews as possible, women, children, soldiers”.
The imperative of fighting the war has postponed a deepening struggle over the future character of the Jewish state. It is, in large part, a conflict between the secularist ideals held by people like Michael Ofer-Zif and Yuval Green, and the increasingly powerful religious right represented by the settlements movement, and their champions in Netanyahu’s cabinet, including figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Add to that the lingering, widespread anger over the government’s attempts to dilute the power of the country’s judiciary in 2023 – it led to mass demonstrations in the months before October 7 – and the stage is set for a turbulent politics long after the war ends.
On both sides it is not unusual to hear people talk of a struggle for the soul of Israel.
Maj Lipsky was packing to return to military duty on the evening I met him, sure of his duty and responsibility. No peace until Hamas was defeated.
Among the refusers I spoke with, there was a determination to stand by their principles. Michael Ofer-Ziv may leave Israel, unsure whether he can be happy in the country. “It just looks less and less likely that I will be able to hold the values that I hold, wanting the future that I want for my kids to live here, and that is very scary,” he says.
Yuval Green is training to become a doctor, and hopes that a settlement can be reached between peacemakers among the Israeli and Palestinian people. “I think in this conflict, there are only two sides, not the Israeli side and the Palestinian side. There is the side that supports violence and the side that supports, you know, finding better solutions.” There are many Israelis who would disagree with that analysis, but it won’t stop his mission.
Top image credit: Getty
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