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Ometz Le'sarevOmetz Le'sarev (the Hebrew name means "Courage to Refuse") is an organization of Zionist reserve officers and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces who refuse to serve beyond the 1967 borders, but "shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel's defense." The movement began as a nucleus of 51 reserve officers and soldiers, who in January 2002 published an ad in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, which would later come to be known as "The Combatants' Letter". 3 years later the number of signatories had reached well over 600. At first, the IDF responded by sentancing any refusenik who refused to serve in the Occupied Territories to jail. Seeing that this was not a deterrent, and only raised awareness of refusal within the populace, it has stepped down its efforts, and has simply stopped calling on the refuseniks, or sending them to alternate duties within the 1967 borders. There are differing opinions in the Israeli public regarding the organization. The right wing opposes the movement up to calling their activity a treason during wartime and claim that their refusal encourage the Palestinians to step up suicide bombings in order to break the Israeli society. The left wing, which opposes the occupation, is split between those who see refusal as a legitimate political tool, and those who believe that it is unlawful and only serves to undermine the IDF's and the Israeli peace camp standing within the populace. However, the majority of the Israeli public rejects refusal to serve as a legitimate mean and thinks the refusniks only causing damage and undermining democracy. Israeli Zionist left wing activists proffesor Amnon Rubinstein warned that refusal in the left will lend legitimacy to refusal to remove Israeli settlements in the right. See also:
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