Mia Tamarin:

I have no doubt that I should be serving my country, I have been doing so in many ways from a very young age, and intend of course to continue doing so, not out of compulsion, but fully and truly of my own will. I cannot become part of an organization whose purpose is to fend off violence by violence, because this unequivocally opposes everything I believe in and my whole life. There is always another, non-violent option, and this is the option I choose.

Tamar Katz:

I refuse to enlist in the Israeli military on grounds of conscience. I am not willing to become part of an occupying army, which has been an invader of foreign lands for decades, which perpetuates a racist regime of robbery in these lands, tyrannizes civilians, and makes life harsh for millions under a false pretext of security.

I oppose the anti-Palestinian policy of attrition and oppression, not because I prefer Palestinian to Israeli society, but from the understanding that this policy has led us to a dead-end politically and morally, forced particularly on soldiers stationed in the Occupied Territories. I am not willing to become one of those who points a gun indiscriminately at Palestinian civilians, and I do not believe that such actions could bring change except even more antagonism and violence in our region.

Sahar Vardi:

I have been to the occupied Palestinian territory many times, and even though I realize that the soldier at the checkpoint is not responsible for the wretched policy of the oppressor toward civilians, I am unable to exempt that soldier of responsibility for his conduct ... I mean the human responsibility of not causing suffering to another human being.

The bloody times in which I live (assassinations, aggression, bombings, shootings) result in increasing numbers of victims on both sides. It is a vicious circle that emanates from the fact that both sides elect to engage in violence. This choice I refuse to take part in.

Hadas Amit:

If I were to be recruited into the army, this would absolutely and in all respects contradict my convictions and way in life, since violence, killing, nationalism, and vandalism are not part of them. I am not willing to wear the uniform of an organization responsible for killing and destruction, and acting in a way detrimental to the environment. Every country, Israel included, should act by peaceful means alone, and even if attacked, not respond with fire. In any situation, Israel included, it is wrong to maintain a military force trained for war and killing – this is altogether contrary to the pursuit of peace and coexistence with our neighbors in the Middle East.

Idan Halili:

A strongly patriarchal institution, like the army, underscores female marginality … and the superiority of male-identified values. … It might be said that a mood of sexual harassment is endemic to … the army. And so the demand that a woman enlist is tantamount to demanding that she cope with sexual harassment … Since the army is such a central institution in society, a culture of sexual harassment also is exported to … civic society. … As a feminist, I feel I must avoid military service and act to limit and reduce the influence of the army on civic society. … When men spend a formative period of their lives in the military they are likely to receive positive reinforcements for the use of brute power and violence … in an organization whose main values include superiority and control. … I cannot join an organization which, either directly or indirectly, encourages violence – of any form and kind – against women. … I cannot live in such flagrant denial of my conscience.

Laura Milo:

I cannot take part in the injustices that our country carries out through the IDF.  I am not a pacifist; my objection is to the occupation.  I went to Yeruham [national service] with a sense of pioneering, forming a new model of community work.  Through the young people I worked with and my personal experience, I encountered the ugliness of our society, the injustice guiding the policies of our government.  This work reinforced my sense of duty to create something different.  It is the duty of my conscience to tell my truth fully.  I will refuse to serve out of a deeply personal motive: so I can go on living in this country at peace with what my conscience tells me.

Danya Vaknin [full text]:

At times it seems like it would have been easier to enlist. The price of resistance is high. I’ve lost most of my friends. My friends are in the army now. They can’t talk to me without getting angry or without dealing with a lot of emotions.  I know I won’t stand for it, that I won’t accept the “no choice” outlook, that I can’t be part of the army, that I can’t occupy, that I can’t oppress. After all, the value system I’ve constructed clashes so clearly with serving in the IDF. Today more than ever, I have no problem saying that and really meaning it.