Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israeli society has been caught up in a nationalist frenzy. The massacre of October 7 strengthened already powerful far-right currents and pushed many of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s erstwhile critics to rally around the flag. An overwhelming majority of Israelis stand behind the war, even after the International Court of Justice formally raised the accusation of genocide.

But there are a few who refuse to go along with it. Since the war began, eleven young Israelis have openly refused their mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). They do not want to become part of the machinery of war and are calling on their compatriots to question their government’s war propaganda. The young peace activists, who organize in the Mesarvot network, are regularly threatened, insulted, and held in military prison for months at a time.

One of these courageous young people is Sofia Orr, who was recently in Berlin for an event organized by Israelis for Peace. There, she spoke to Jacobin’s Patrick Lempges about the lust for war in her home country, pathways to peace in the Middle East, and why she will never regret her decision to refuse conscription.