-Analysis–
TURIN — Israeli bombs continue to fall on a nearly entirely destroyed Gaza, and its defenseless inhabitants, while Israel finds itself increasingly isolated amid growing international outrage.
And as we witness this awful moment, a new dilemma is surfacing within Israeli public opinion. It is a debate that, until now, had been largely absent: the question of obedience. What does it mean to follow orders when those orders strike us as unjust and immoral? Can one, indeed must one, refuse to comply? And above all, how can we judge the injustice of an order we’ve been given?
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This issue has come to the forefront following comments by Yair Golan, a former high-ranking army officer and now leader of the Democratic Party.
Golan has accused the government of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, insisting that “it is not normal to kill children for fun.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded by accusing him of anti-Semitism, with veiled threats directed at Golan’s safety.
Meanwhile, a significant portion of Israel’s political center has attacked him for not only accusing the prime minister but for implicating the army itself. As a result, Golan partially walked back his remarks, clarifying that he meant to criticize only the government, not the military.
At this point, Gideon Levy, the renowned journalist and long-time defender of Palestinian rights, stepped in with a piece in the Israeli daily Haaretz. One can refuse to carry out such orders, he wrote. Had soldiers refused, Gaza would never have reached this point.
Beyond Refusniks
That has been the central question so far, and there’s every chance it could grow to become a key issue in the broader domestic debate over Gaza. Still, it is worth noting that while the issue of obedience is now emerging primarily in the context of the so-called “refusniks”—those called up for service who refuse to serve in Gaza and are therefore imprisoned — this debate is not new in Israeli history.
The defense of “just following orders” was, after all, the argument used by the Nazis, from the Nuremberg trials to Adolf Eichmann himself. And the same dilemma arose dramatically in Israel during the 1956 war. On the first day of fighting, a group of Palestinians returning from the fields in Kefar Kassem, unaware that a curfew had been brought forward, were gunned down by the army.
The black flag, which marks war crimes and crimes against humanity,
now flies over Gaza.
Forty-nine people, including women and children, were killed. The massacre triggered outrage across the country. Some even described the behavior as “Nazi-like.”
What your conscience recognizes
Prime Minister Ben Gurion issued an apology in Parliament, which also observed a minute of silence. The perpetrators were tried and convicted, though they were released shortly thereafter.
What stood out most, however, was the ruling of the judge, Benyamin Halevy, who emphasized the duty not to follow unlawful orders: “Your conscience recognizes when you are facing manifest illegality: a kind of signal waves over the order like a black flag, warning: ‘Forbidden.’”
That black flag, which marks war crimes and crimes against humanity, now flies over Gaza. We may not see it, but it is there. And yet too many have forgotten what it means.
Rogue states
Still, it may now be time to shift the focus briefly, from rightly condemning the members of this government to reflecting on whether unjust orders must be obeyed, and where the line lies between what is just and what is not.
Such difficult questions could help expand and deepen the protest. It might give greater voice to those who are already speaking out, and bring the moral argument back into the heart of public debate.
Perhaps, it could even help bring this senseless and shameful massacre to an end. Because, despite what Netanyahu cynically said about the lack of supplies to Gaza, this must be stopped not just to spare Israel the label of rogue state, but because killing civilians is an unforgivable crime.
