The Resistance News Network reported on March 3 that “Ultra-Orthodox” Zionist settlers are blocking a ‘Tel Aviv’ highway in protest of the entity’s pending conscription law, which would see them drafted into the [Israeli Occupation Force] IOF for the first time as the IOF strives to make up for its significant losses and demands higher recruitment. A number of settlers have been detained.” No Israeli flags were visible during this confrontation between the fascist settlers and the police. The ultra-Orthodox settlers had enjoyed full exemption from military duty until now.

What is this new conscription law in question? This law proposes to extend the duration of military conscription for Zionist settlers from two years to three years, as well as to increase the age limit for reserve soldiers to 45 years.  Now thousands of these settlers are fleeing Israel to avoid conscription.  

The Israeli War Minister, Yoav Gallant, stated in a Feb. 28 speech: “We are paying a very high price in our ranks. The costs we incur in terms of the numbers of deaths and injuries are very high. We have not witnessed such a war in 75 years, and this calls on us to approve amendments to the conscription law.”   

Gallant is the same monstrous war criminal who has referred to Palestinians as “human animals,” as he cut off food, water and medicine to over 2 million people.  He also made an appeal for more global assistance and for more Israelis to bolster a deflated occupation force. 

This was a stunning public admission on how the well-armed and well-trained Israeli Occupation Forces have suffered an unprecedented number of dead and wounded since the Al-Aqsa Flood was initiated by the Islamic Resistance Forces, Hamas, on October 7.   

Resistance demoralizes Zionist regime

Hamas, along with other Palestinian resistance forces, have banded together with only handmade weapons at their disposal. With guerrilla tactics, the resistance has managed to demoralize the U.S.-backed apartheid regime in the occupied territories in Gaza and the West Bank for almost five months.  Senior officials in the Israeli army are resigning, such as Daniel Hagari.  

Since Feb. 8, it has been documented that Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades have either destroyed or disabled over 1,100 IOF military vehicles, with additional military machinery destroyed by other armed resistance factions. 

This protest against expanding the age for military conscription comes at the same time that growing mass opposition in the streets against the Israeli regime, headed by another war criminal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is calling for his resignation. The killing of three more Israeli hostages in an ill-fated rescue attempt by the IOF has added more fuel to the fire regarding the demand for Netanyahu to step down.  

More and more Israelis are demanding that Netanyahu agree to a negotiated ceasefire with the resistance to stop the catastrophic genocide that he and Gallant have perpetuated against Gazans and to the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the more than 100 remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. 

Israel’s growing worldwide isolation 

The deteriorating internal situation for Israel is rooted in its worsening global image, which has been nothing but a facade since its founding. In a Feb. 27 New York Times op-ed piece, “Israel Is Losing Its Greatest Asset: Acceptance,” Thomas Friedman wrote: “I’ve spent the past few days traveling from New Delhi to Dubai and Amman, and I have an urgent message to deliver to President Biden and the Israeli people: I am seeing the increasingly rapid erosion of Israel’s standing among friendly nations — a level of acceptance and legitimacy that was painstakingly built up over decades. And if Biden is not careful, America’s global standing will plummet right along with Israel’s.

“I don’t think Israelis or the Biden administration fully appreciate the rage that is bubbling up around the world, fueled by social media and TV footage, over the deaths of so many thousands of Palestinian civilians, particularly children, with U.S.-supplied weapons in Israel’s war in Gaza. Hamas has much to answer for in triggering this human tragedy, but Israel and the U.S. are seen as driving events now and getting most of the blame.”

The truth is that the global standing of the U.S. and Israel has already fallen to such an extent that there is no reversal in the immediate future. Friedman’s piece states the obvious: that Israel and its biggest financial and military backer, the United States, are more isolated and despised not only in the Global South but the Global North. Millions of people continue to protest on a worldwide basis, not only against genocide but also defending the right of Palestinians to all forms of resistance against the genocide.  

The Zionist regime is also facing a deepening crisis with its economy, which has already plummeted 20% since October 7, a result of not only the military human casualties and expenditures but also the effective global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel.  

Over 50 countries have taken Israel to the international courts to accuse the settler-colonial regime of genocide. Many of these same countries have cut off armaments and diplomatic relations with Israel. The Yemeni Naval Forces have deterred hundreds of ships from delivering goods directed to Israel, causing losses in the billions of dollars. 

The European Union and other countries have restored their funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees after a small number of UNWRA employees were accused by Israel of being Hamas members. This rebuke is a political blow to Israel.   

The self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell on Feb. 24 to express his solidarity with Palestine has helped to deepen outrage over the horrific complicit role the U.S. has played in the ethnic cleansing in Gaza.  

As Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated on March 2; “This soldier [Aaron Bushnell] of the U.S. Air Force has shaken U.S. society and the world. We are seeing the exhaustion, the definitive decline of the U.S. empire and the Western imperial system of domination. We are living through a historic moment.” (@upholdreality)