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Tal Mitnick, an 18-year-old Israeli, has gone to jail for refusing to serve in the Israel Defence Forces due to his opposition to Israels war in Gaza. You might imagine that some hear this and wish hed serve, while othersin agreement with his stance or notadmire his commitment to his principles.

What you might not have seen comingwhat I, for one, did not expectwas how furious people are at Mitnick from the pro-Palestinian left. At first it seemed like what I was noticing was the hard-to-explain online phenomenon of a lot of people complaining about a weird take theyd seen, albeit one thats not representative of anything and easily dismissed. I dug a bit and here it seems like yeah people really are arguing this. Below, a smattering of the posts in question. (Note that IOF is what people who are not fans of the IDF sometimes call itoffence versus defence, get it, get it?)

I have a few theories about why the people youd least expect are mad at an Israeli teenager for refusing to serve.

1. Social media favours extreme stances. Whether its clout or money youre after, the more unhinged your take, the better its likely to fare. All publicity is good publicity for the hate-quote-tweeted. And yes, asking Israelis to go home to Brooklyn is unhinged. There is content similarly removed from its hinges on the pro-Israel side. If you want the clout-clicks, be sure to say you want all Palestinians moved to Sardinia. If you dont say this, then youre just a liberal bore who favours a two-state solution. (Hello from one such bore, by the way.)

2. The shifting of the Overton Window. If you say enough times that refusal to serve in the IDF is a moderate position, then Israel outright disbanding itself starts to seem like a thing a normal person could go around arguing for and expecting to happen. Because this isnt all about clout. There are people who genuinely do want Israel gone, and for whom a somewhat demilitarized Israel wouldnt suffice.

3. The obvious: antisemitism. Remember that thing? It is a thing. If you say that your opposition to Israel is rooted in your reactions to the death and destruction in Gaza, and then a young Israeli man refuses to do his mandatory military service in support of your cause, if he does so at great personal risk (aka not just posting his takes), and this isnt enough for you, it could very well be that your problem is less with Israeli policies or even Israels existence than with Jews.

For more original Jewish culture commentary from Phoebe Maltz Bovy subscribe to the freeBonjour Chainewsletter on Substack.

The CJNs senior editor Phoebe Maltz Bovy can be reached at[emailprotected], not to mention@phoebebovyon Bluesky,and@bovymaltzon the website formerly known as Twitter. She also holds forth on The CJNs weekly podcastBonjour Chai.

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Is nothing good enough? Phoebe Maltz Bovy on why some progressives are mad at the young Israeli refusing to serve ... - The Canadian Jewish News