Mattan here. I am the executive director of Refuser Solidarity Network and an Israeli refuser. Last week, for the first time in many years, a reserve soldier was jailed for refusing to serve in protest of the ongoing genocide. His name is Daniel Yahalom, and he is refusing over the barbaric genocide in Gaza and the ongoing settler-military takeover of the West Bank.

From the beginning, we’ve made it clear: the military cannot afford mass refusal. They’re trying to project strength, but the longer this war drags on, the more the cracks begin to show. They hoped punishment would break our resolve, but they’re only strengthening our movement. Let’s show him that he is not alone! Write a support letter to Daniel and ask 3 friends to do the same.

Daniel had already served more than 200 days since the war began. But when he understood the destruction, he made a choice. In his words: “Since October 7, I have served over 235 days in the reserves with a heavy heart. I was haunted by a heavy feeling that the fate of the hostages was being forsaken and that the war, which is largely unbridled, is being paid for in Gazan blood… The situation in the West Bank also got worse and worse… Meanwhile, what about the hostages? Every day they were dragged to the margins of the exhausted Israeli consciousness.”

Following Daniel’s arrest, “Soldiers for the Hostages”, a group of soldiers who refuse to take part in the war on Gaza, held an emergency protest outside the military prison where Daniel is being held. They showed up wearing shirts that read: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust wars.” Our movement made itself heard, reminding Daniel he is not alone.

This isn’t just about one soldier, it never was. His arrest is a test. The government is betting that fear will silence us, that one prison cell will be enough to keep the rest in line. But his arrest has had the opposite effect, and it has only given our movement momentum. As opposition to the government and calls for the end of the war grow, the arrest of refusers continues to bring our movement into the mainstream. Hundreds have signed our refusal letter, more are joining every day, and we’re not going anywhere till the end of the genocide and the occupation.

This moment marks an escalation on the part of the government, but also an opening. The media is watching while the public asks questions. People who once believed refusal was unthinkable are beginning to reconsider. That’s where we come in. We’re opening another way forward, a way of hope and resistance.

We fight to end the genocide, and to the systems of occupation that make wars like this inevitable. Until then, we will support all those wrongfully jailed for refusing service and the current state of affairs. We will continue to show up. At jails. At protests. In the streets. In the press. Now is the time for civil resistance. For those supporting us from afar, let’s show Daniel that he is not alone! Write him a support letter and ask 3 friends to do the same.

In solidarity,

Mattan Helman
Executive Director
Refuser Solidarity Network

(Taken from an email sent to me by the Refuser Solidarity Network. Emphasis original.)