Internal resistance in Israel

Specialising in commando operations behind the enemy lines, Sayeret Matkal was covered with glory, in particular in the raid of Entebbe, in Uganda, to release the Israeli passengers of an Air France flight in June 1976. Thirteen former members of this unit, including nine reservists, decided to say no. The outcry has been enormous.

"Our deep concern as for the future of the State of Israel, as a democratic, Zionist and Jewish State, and our preoccupation with its moral image and its values, do not enable us any more to keep silent. We say to you today: we will not take any more part in the oppression of the rights of millions of Palestinians. We will not be used any more as a rampart for colonisation. We will not let destroy what human exists in us by the operations of an occupying army," wrote the signatories of the petition. The letter was addressed to the commander of the unit with copies to Chief of StaffGeneral Moshe Yaalon, Minister for Defence Shaul Mofaz, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.