More than 350 Israeli army reservists on Tuesday, September 2, signed a statement opposing the cabinet decision to occupy Gaza City, further escalating their opposition to the far-right government. “We are over 365, and counting, soldiers who served during the war and have declared that we will not report for duty when called again,” says Sgt. First Class (res.) Max Kresch at a Tel Aviv press conference. “We refuse to take part in Netanyahu’s illegal war, and we see it as a patriotic duty to refuse and demand accountability from our leaders.”
“Enough is enough”, Israeli reserve soldiers during the press conference in held Tel Aviv, opposing the continuation of the war in Gaza and the occupation of Gaza City, September 2, 2025 (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Sgt. First Class Dor Menachem says the order to occupy Gaza City “endangers the hostages and soldiers themselves,” claiming the entire military establishment expressed a “determined stance against” such a move. “There is no logic to this step,” he adds. Cpt. (res.) Ron Feiner, who served 270 days in reserve duty over the war, calls the decision made earlier this month to occupy Gaza City — which many view as the first step to occupying the entire Strip — a “patently illegal order.” “The decision to occupy Gaza will always be at the risk of the hostages, soldiers and Palestinian citizens. It was given by a messianic government with no public legitimacy, that is only interested in its own political survival,” he says.
He notes the many hostage families who have spoken against expanding the war, out of worry that military pressure puts their loved ones at heightened risk. “For messianic ideas such as this, we will not report for duty. Here and now, we are saying ‘enough,'” he continues.
Tens of thousands of reservists were set to be drafted to the Israeli occupation army on Tuesday, in what was said to be the largest single call-up since right after the start of the war almost two years ago, though turnout was reportedly low, with fewer reservists showing up for duty.
According to Hebrew-language media, the call-up — the first phase of a wider draft for the planned occupation of Gaza City — faced challenges with fewer reservists inclined to report for duty after nearly two years of war, repeat rounds of service, and a sense that the burden is not fairly shared among the population.
Around 60,000 were set to be drafted in several waves for the operation. Many reservists have reportedly requested exceptions, citing personal or financial reasons, and units are seeing lower turnout than in previous emergency call-ups. Dalit Kislev Spektor told the Wall Street Journal that many men in her husband’s 150-man unit were now unemployed, divorced or facing financial ruin after months away from home. “I told him, ‘The war is political, because none of us believes in our leadership. If it was up to me, I would ask you not to go,'” Spektor told WSJ. Spektor, who leads a group called Ima Era (Wide-awake Mother), which brings together mothers of soldiers, also said that her husband had been deeply impacted when he had to identify the body of a fellow reservist who had died by suicide.
Dozens of teens gathered Saturday morning outside military Prison 10 calling for the release of all political prisoners, including the five refuseniks that are currently jailed. Police arrested three protesters, two of them members of the Youth Communist League of Israel.
On Tuesday morning, dozens of doctors blocked traffic on the northbound lanes of the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of the hostages and an end to the war. “We can’t heal the bodies or minds of the hostages. The best treatment we can give them today is to stop everything and cry out on their behalf. We will not normalize a malignant state of abandonment and the breaking of the moral values that are the foundation of our lives.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32977
