Maj. (res.) Danny Zamir is the head of the Yitzchak Rabin pre-military academy for secular youth in the Haifa area. Zamir was sent to prison 12 years ago for refusing to obey orders to serve in Joseph\'s Tomb, yet today, as he wrote in the latest issue of the army journal BaMachaneh, he is sharply critical of those who refuse to serve in Yesha. He explained to Arutz-7 today, \"12 years ago, I refused to serve in a ceremony bringing Torah scrolls to Joseph\'s Tomb, with the participation of then-Knesset speaker Dov Shilansky… I was put on trial, and we reached a \'compromise\' by which my soldiers protected the event, and I went to prison for 28 days.\"
Q. Were you against all service in Yesha, or just that one particular case in Joseph\'s Tomb?
A. I probably would have served in other places in Yesha, but this case was sort of like the straw that broke the camel\'s back… Afterwards, I was active in all sorts of left-wing organizations, until the Madrid Conference or the Oslo Agreements, I\'m not sure which…
Q. Yet today you criticize those who are basically following in your own footsteps!
A. Yes. Let\'s start with the fact that now, looking back from the heights of my current old age - 39 - I\'m not sure that my refusal to serve then was not so justified at the time. Furthermore, in order to be consistent, I would say that even if then there was a certain justification for my actions, today that justification simply does not exist.
To elaborate: At the time, I felt that the \"conquest\" that had been established here was undermining the Zionist basis, which was based on the idea of a Jewish national home, but one that would not harm the rights of another people… Since then, however, things changed: We simply did that which I had thought should be done, namely, we tried to come to a diplomatic agreement… In the course of this process, the country is sometimes called upon to fight, and therefore every soldier must serve, whether in pleasant circumstances or not… The fact is that we went to the extreme of what the Zionist Jews in Israel could possibly offer - namely, Barak\'s offer [of about 97% of] Judea, Samaria, and Gaza in the summer of 2000 - and we received a clear response from the Palestinians: that we are not their partner, that they don\'t want us here, and here\'s a bullet in your head for your efforts. I don\'t really understand what those who refuse to serve today see as an alternative…
Q. There are those among those who refuse to serve in Yesha who say that Barak really didn\'t make such generous concessions…
A. Yes, I\'m familiar with this approach that says that we\'re always to blame for everything… [At worst], Barak really didn\'t mean to offer it, but just to reveal the true face of the Palestinians. If that\'s so, then he deserves our thanks!
Q. Were you against all service in Yesha, or just that one particular case in Joseph\'s Tomb?
A. I probably would have served in other places in Yesha, but this case was sort of like the straw that broke the camel\'s back… Afterwards, I was active in all sorts of left-wing organizations, until the Madrid Conference or the Oslo Agreements, I\'m not sure which…
Q. Yet today you criticize those who are basically following in your own footsteps!
A. Yes. Let\'s start with the fact that now, looking back from the heights of my current old age - 39 - I\'m not sure that my refusal to serve then was not so justified at the time. Furthermore, in order to be consistent, I would say that even if then there was a certain justification for my actions, today that justification simply does not exist.
To elaborate: At the time, I felt that the \"conquest\" that had been established here was undermining the Zionist basis, which was based on the idea of a Jewish national home, but one that would not harm the rights of another people… Since then, however, things changed: We simply did that which I had thought should be done, namely, we tried to come to a diplomatic agreement… In the course of this process, the country is sometimes called upon to fight, and therefore every soldier must serve, whether in pleasant circumstances or not… The fact is that we went to the extreme of what the Zionist Jews in Israel could possibly offer - namely, Barak\'s offer [of about 97% of] Judea, Samaria, and Gaza in the summer of 2000 - and we received a clear response from the Palestinians: that we are not their partner, that they don\'t want us here, and here\'s a bullet in your head for your efforts. I don\'t really understand what those who refuse to serve today see as an alternative…
Q. There are those among those who refuse to serve in Yesha who say that Barak really didn\'t make such generous concessions…
A. Yes, I\'m familiar with this approach that says that we\'re always to blame for everything… [At worst], Barak really didn\'t mean to offer it, but just to reveal the true face of the Palestinians. If that\'s so, then he deserves our thanks!