Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s July 1 admission — that his country’s army needed 10,000 more soldiers immediately — might have shocked the world even one year ago. But since Hamas launched the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, the Zionist apartheid state has been beset by a multitude of crises. In the past nine months, about 900 officers in the Israeli military “have requested to review the release of their contracts.” (palestinechronicle.com, July 1)
It may not be that every one of these 900 officers is motivated by conscience. But whatever the motive, these figures point to the fact that Israeli military morale is at an all-time low.
To meet the need for soldiers, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously against the exemption from conscription of ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews. This ultra-orthodox community comprises about 13% of the population. It has been a base of support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And it wants to keep its long privilege of being free from conscription and forced service in the military.
The Netanyahu regime has cracked down on every expression of dissent, which includes Haredi protests against conscription. It includes demonstrations by families of the October 7 hostages demanding the prime minister agree to a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas. It includes forces within Israel that are publicly expressing opposition to the war.
That’s what happens during an illegal and unwinnable war.
Of course, the repression against Israeli citizens pales in comparison to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which Netanyahu continues to insist is necessary to “free” the hostages captured by the Palestinian Resistance on October 7. At least 38,000 Palestinians have been martyred, but the actual number of people slaughtered by Israel could be many times that.
Global solidarity – a part of resistance
The collapse of Zionist support extends beyond the Israeli military. In the first six months after October 7, some 550,000 Israeli citizens migrated out of the country. Migration into Israel has fallen.
Workers’ actions like this port shutdown in Genoa, Italy, in November 2023, to block weapons shipments to Israel, demonstrate the collapse of support for the Zionist state. (Photo: BDS)
Across the globe, support for Israel has plummeted. Workers in various countries have obstructed the production or blocked shipments of weapons destined for the apartheid state. The student intifada, started with an encampment at Columbia University, drew in students across the U.S. and in many other countries.
Even U.S. unions, some with a history of backing Israel, have called for a ceasefire in Gaza and are discussing divesting from Israel Bonds. This is not close to what they should be doing, but it nevertheless represents a sea change — one that clearly threatens U.S. and Israeli hegemony in West Asia.
If Israel ever was a stable “democracy” in the region, those days are gone. There is no going back.
Youth Against War and Fascism, at one time Workers World Party’s youth group, formed the Committee to Support Middle East Liberation around 1969. Its signs and buttons read: “U.S. out of the Middle East! Palestine will win!”
Today, we could not be more proud of the Palestinian Resistance for creating the possibility of that slogan becoming a reality.