An Israeli army officer who refused to serve in the Gaza Strip over the direction of the war has been sent to jail.
The officer, Captain Ron Feiner, had previously served in Gaza as well as Lebanon in the ongoing war, but he refused to answer to latest summons over the “abandonment” of hostages, according to Hebrew-language outlet Ynet.
Feiner told Ynet that he refused to serve another tour of duty as Netanyahu had dropped the return of hostages to “the bottom of the priority” list and that he could not neither commit nor convince soldiers under his command to commit the kind of war crimes that Israeli far-right seeks.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu said that the top-most objective of the war is not the return of hostages but the war against Hamas. Similarly, his principal far-right ally, Bezalel Smotrich, has said that the return of hostages is not the “most important goal”. Earlier this week, Netanyahu also said that the war would only end when he has expelled all Palestinians from Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s plan for the US takeover of the strip.
‘I am appalled by never-ending in Gaza’
Feiner said that he is appalled by the never-ending war in Gaza. Instead of his refusal to serve, he said that the war itself has become a threat to Israel’s security.
Feiner said, “What is currently harming the security of the state is the war itself, not people like me who refuse to report for duty. I believe that the government’s policy today does not reflect the values of the State of Israel. In the future, when we return to a situation where the government contributes to the true defense of the country, we will be able to return to service. I am at peace with my decision.”
