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December 26, 2003/Tevet 1 5764, Vol. 56, No. 14
Elite reservists refuse to serve
DAN BARON
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
For decades, they were Israel's shadow heroes, staging daring operations in places such as Entebbe and Lebanon and emerging into the limelight only when it came time to take top civilian posts.
But now even Sayeret Matkal, made up of these elite military figures, has been touched by a new moral unease in the Israeli military after three years of conflict with the Palestinians.
Thirteen reservists from Sayeret Matkal - the General Staff Re-connaissance Company - went public on Dec. 21 with a letter they wrote to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announcing they would refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Their move has shaken - and has been roundly con-demned by - the political upper echelons to which the elite unit answers directly.
"We will no longer be party to an oppressive rule in the territories and the disregard for the human rights of millions of Palestinians," wrote the reservists, ranging in rank from sergeant to captain.
"We will no longer serve to advance the Settlement Crusade."
In a nod to the heavy secrecy under which Matkal operates, the petitioners signed only the first letters of their last names and, when making television appearances, insisted their faces be obscured.
Israel's government and military top brass, still smarting from a similar declaration by 27 reserve combat pilots in September, was united in condemning the move.
Each of the signatories "will be called in to talk to his commander, the gravity of the situation will be explained to him and he will be given the chance to recant," Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon, himself a former Matkal officer, told Israel Radio on Dec. 22.
"If he doesn't, he will be thrown out of army reserve duty."
His sentiments were echoed by a slew of fellow Matkal veterans, including Finance Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and National Religious Party head Effi Eitam.
Rarely referred to by name and devoid of official insignia, Matkal is the elite of Israel's elite, activated directly by the General Staff and its chief executive, Sharon. The re-servists' sweeping critique of Israeli policies in the ter-ritories carry enormous political weight.
"We thought coming out in this way, rather than joining the grey ranks of con-scientious objectors whose protest consists of simply not turning up to the next tour of duty, was better," a petitioner named only as Avner told Channel Two television.
Disobeying orders in Israel's military is punishable by up to 15 years' imprisonment, but so far the Judge-Advocate General's Office has made do with handing out much milder penalties in dealing with the so-called refuseniks.
When 27 reserve helicopter gunship pilots vowed in September to no longer take part in track-and-kill op-erations against Palestinian terrorists, several were dishonorably discharged.
According to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, Yuval Steinitz, that set a precedent that encouraged further insubordination.
"Refusing to serve is an ideological felony and should be treated as such,'' he told Israel Radio.
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