Stephanie Joyce
There is a temptation in every war to flatten people into symbols.
An Israeli soldier becomes “the IDF.”
An American soldier becomes “the U.S. military.”
A Palestinian becomes “Hamas.”
An Iranian civilian becomes “collateral damage.”
Once we do this, conscience disappears. Nuance disappears. Humanity disappears.
I have seen people say, “All of the IDF is evil.”
I understand the anger that gives rise to that statement. The images from Gaza have shocked the conscience of millions around the world. Former Israeli soldiers themselves have come forward to describe actions that haunt them to this day. Organizations such as Breaking the Silence exist because veterans felt morally compelled to tell the public what they witnessed and what they participated in.
These testimonies are not excuses. They are confessions.
But neither are they evidence that every Israeli soldier is a monster.
Because if we believe that, then we must also believe that every American soldier who served in Iraq or Afghanistan is a monster. We must believe that every young recruit who followed orders in Vietnam was evil.
History suggests something more complicated. It suggests that ordinary people often become instruments of systems far larger than themselves.
The Tyrant Problem
Before October 7, Israel was already in crisis.
For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis flooded the streets in one of the largest protest movements in the country’s history. They carried Israeli flags and accused their own government of undermining democracy. Some warned that their nation was approaching authoritarianism.
The protests were not anti-Israel.
They were profoundly pro-Israel.
They were citizens trying to save their country from what they believed was a dangerous concentration of power.
Benjamin Netanyahu was already standing trial on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Whatever one’s view of those charges, the protests revealed something deeper: many Israelis feared that democratic institutions themselves were under strain.
America has seen its own version of this story.
Millions of Americans believed Donald Trump should be held legally accountable and watched criminal cases proceed against him even as he sought the presidency again. Others believed those cases were politically motivated.
Whatever one’s politics, the lesson is the same: Democracies do not become vulnerable because people disagree. They become vulnerable when citizens begin believing that only one man can save them. That is how strongmen rise.
And once they rise, ordinary people often find themselves serving causes they never intended to serve. Some do so enthusiastically. Some do so reluctantly. Some resist. Some break.
And some spend the rest of their lives carrying the moral injury of having participated in something they no longer recognize as right.
The Soldiers Who Came Back Different
Many obey. Some dissent.
Some wake up years later carrying trauma for things they did, failed to stop, or simply witnessed.
Former Israeli soldiers have spoken publicly about the moral burdens they carry from their service in the occupied territories and in Gaza.
Israeli veteran Yehuda Shaul has described being taught that controlling millions of Palestinians was necessary because there was “no other option.”
Other former soldiers have testified to routine practices that left them questioning the morality of the occupation itself.
Recent testimonies from Israeli soldiers have described widespread destruction in Gaza and questioned whether all of it was necessary or proportionate.
These accounts matter because they remind us that soldiers are not abstractions. They are human beings capable of reflection, remorse, and dissent. America, too, has a long tradition of military dissent.
From Vietnam veterans who later spoke against the war, to conscientious objectors and veterans’ organizations questioning modern conflicts, American history is full of people who concluded that loyalty to one’s country sometimes requires questioning the decisions of its leaders.
Recent reports that Pentagon programs dedicated to civilian harm mitigation have been weakened or dismantled raise difficult questions about accountability and whether democratic societies are becoming more comfortable with civilian suffering.
Likewise, Israel is not a nation of one mind. Those protests that filled the streets before October 7 did not disappear because war began. Neither did the peace activists. Neither did the dissenters. Neither did the parents who fear for their children on all sides of this conflict.
The story of these two armies is not merely about soldiers. It is about systems. It is about what happens when governments ask ordinary people to normalize extraordinary violence. It is about the moral injury that follows.
And it is about whether citizens have the courage to refuse the game altogether. Because perhaps the most dangerous lie in modern politics is the idea that we are powerless.
We are not.
Governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. Wars continue because millions of people, often reluctantly and fearfully, continue participating in systems they no longer believe in.
The question is not whether Israelis are good or bad. The question is not whether Americans are good or bad. The question is whether human beings can still recognize one another’s humanity before fear, ideology, and tribalism consume it entirely.
Perhaps history’s great turning points do not happen when one army defeats another. Perhaps they happen when enough ordinary people decide they will no longer surrender their conscience to those who seek power through fear.
The tragedy of war is not that monsters exist.
It is that ordinary people, in every country, can be pulled into systems that demand moral compromise—and that some of the bravest people are the ones who come home and tell the truth about it.
The world does not belong to dictators, generals, or politicians. It belongs to all of us.
And its future will be determined by those willing to defend not merely their own people, but our shared humanity.
Selected Sources and Further Reading
Former Israeli Soldiers’ Testimonies
Breaking the Silence. (2004–Present). Testimonies from Israeli veterans who served in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
Shaul, Yehuda. (2016, February 15). Former Israeli soldiers discuss the occupation and the belief that there is “no other option.” Democracy Now!
https://www.democracynow.org/2016/2/15/former_israeli_soldiers_break_the_silence
Quote:
“You are raised into the understanding that there is no other option.”
— Yehuda Shaul, former IDF soldier and co-founder of Breaking the Silence
Israeli Soldiers’ Accounts from Gaza
Reuters. (April 7, 2025). Israeli soldiers describe ‘kill zone’ and destruction along Gaza’s border.
Reuters interviewed Israeli soldiers who described permissive rules of engagement and widespread destruction in Gaza, with some questioning the necessity and proportionality of the operations.
Associated Press. (August 15, 2024). Israeli soldiers and former detainees describe allegations of Palestinians being used during military operations.
https://apnews.com/article/80f358dd2c87a1123f26ffada159701c
Pentagon Civilian Harm Mitigation Programs
The Washington Post. (March 4, 2025). Trump administration dismantles Pentagon civilian-harm offices.
ProPublica. (2025). How the Pentagon’s civilian protection efforts were weakened.
(Search: “civilian harm mitigation Pentagon”)
The Guardian. (2025). Pentagon scales back offices tasked with reducing civilian casualties.
(Search: “Pentagon civilian harm mitigation”)
Israeli Anti-Government Protests Before October 7
The New York Times. (July 22, 2023). Hundreds of thousands protest Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/world/middleeast/israel-protests-netanyahu.html
Reuters. (March 27, 2023). Mass protests erupt after Netanyahu fires defense minister.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/
(Search: “Reuters March 27 2023 Netanyahu fires defense minister protests”)
Associated Press. (September 23, 2023). Israeli protesters rally against judicial overhaul ahead of UN speech.
(Search: “September 2023 Israeli protests judicial overhaul”)
Continuing Israeli Peace Activism and Dissent
Le Monde. (June 7, 2026). The fears and hopes of Israel’s peace activists.
U.S. Campus Protests and Nationwide Demonstrations Over Gaza
The New York Times. (April–May 2024). Coverage of pro-Palestinian encampments across American universities.
(Search: “Gaza campus protests encampments New York Times April 2024”)
Associated Press. (May 2024). How the Gaza protests spread across U.S. campuses.
(Search: “Gaza protests spread across US campuses AP May 2024”)
CNN. (April 2024). Timeline of student encampments and demonstrations over the war in Gaza.
(Search: “CNN Gaza campus protests timeline”)
Historical Context Referenced in the Article
- March–September 2023: Mass Israeli protests against judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government.
- October 7, 2023: Hamas attacks southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking hostages, fundamentally altering Israeli politics and public discourse.
- 2024–2025: Continued Israeli anti-government demonstrations demanding elections, accountability, and hostage-release agreements.
- 2024: Widespread student encampments and protests across U.S. university campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and changes to university investment policies.
There is a temptation in every war to flatten people into symbols.
An Israeli soldier becomes “the IDF.”
An American soldier becomes “the U.S. military.”
A Palestinian becomes “Hamas.”
An Iranian civilian becomes “collateral damage.”
Once we do this, conscience disappears. Nuance disappears. Humanity disappears.
I have seen people say, “All of the IDF is evil.”
I understand the anger that gives rise to that statement. The images from Gaza have shocked the conscience of millions around the world. Former Israeli soldiers themselves have come forward to describe actions that haunt them to this day. Organizations such as Breaking the Silence exist because veterans felt morally compelled to tell the public what they witnessed and what they participated in.
These testimonies are not excuses. They are confessions.
But neither are they evidence that every Israeli soldier is a monster.
Because if we believe that, then we must also believe that every American soldier who served in Iraq or Afghanistan is a monster. We must believe that every young recruit who followed orders in Vietnam was evil.
History suggests something more complicated. It suggests that ordinary people often become instruments of systems far larger than themselves.
The Tyrant Problem
Before October 7, Israel was already in crisis.
For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis flooded the streets in one of the largest protest movements in the country’s history. They carried Israeli flags and accused their own government of undermining democracy. Some warned that their nation was approaching authoritarianism.
The protests were not anti-Israel.
They were profoundly pro-Israel.
They were citizens trying to save their country from what they believed was a dangerous concentration of power.
Benjamin Netanyahu was already standing trial on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Whatever one’s view of those charges, the protests revealed something deeper: many Israelis feared that democratic institutions themselves were under strain.
America has seen its own version of this story.
Millions of Americans believed Donald Trump should be held legally accountable and watched criminal cases proceed against him even as he sought the presidency again. Others believed those cases were politically motivated.
Whatever one’s politics, the lesson is the same: Democracies do not become vulnerable because people disagree. They become vulnerable when citizens begin believing that only one man can save them. That is how strongmen rise.
And once they rise, ordinary people often find themselves serving causes they never intended to serve. Some do so enthusiastically. Some do so reluctantly. Some resist. Some break.
And some spend the rest of their lives carrying the moral injury of having participated in something they no longer recognize as right.
The Soldiers Who Came Back Different
Many obey. Some dissent.
Some wake up years later carrying trauma for things they did, failed to stop, or simply witnessed.
Former Israeli soldiers have spoken publicly about the moral burdens they carry from their service in the occupied territories and in Gaza.
Israeli veteran Yehuda Shaul has described being taught that controlling millions of Palestinians was necessary because there was “no other option.”
Other former soldiers have testified to routine practices that left them questioning the morality of the occupation itself.
Recent testimonies from Israeli soldiers have described widespread destruction in Gaza and questioned whether all of it was necessary or proportionate.
These accounts matter because they remind us that soldiers are not abstractions. They are human beings capable of reflection, remorse, and dissent. America, too, has a long tradition of military dissent.
From Vietnam veterans who later spoke against the war, to conscientious objectors and veterans’ organizations questioning modern conflicts, American history is full of people who concluded that loyalty to one’s country sometimes requires questioning the decisions of its leaders.
Recent reports that Pentagon programs dedicated to civilian harm mitigation have been weakened or dismantled raise difficult questions about accountability and whether democratic societies are becoming more comfortable with civilian suffering.
Likewise, Israel is not a nation of one mind. Those protests that filled the streets before October 7 did not disappear because war began. Neither did the peace activists. Neither did the dissenters. Neither did the parents who fear for their children on all sides of this conflict.
The story of these two armies is not merely about soldiers. It is about systems. It is about what happens when governments ask ordinary people to normalize extraordinary violence. It is about the moral injury that follows.
And it is about whether citizens have the courage to refuse the game altogether. Because perhaps the most dangerous lie in modern politics is the idea that we are powerless.
We are not.
Governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. Wars continue because millions of people, often reluctantly and fearfully, continue participating in systems they no longer believe in.
The question is not whether Israelis are good or bad. The question is not whether Americans are good or bad. The question is whether human beings can still recognize one another’s humanity before fear, ideology, and tribalism consume it entirely.
Perhaps history’s great turning points do not happen when one army defeats another. Perhaps they happen when enough ordinary people decide they will no longer surrender their conscience to those who seek power through fear.
The tragedy of war is not that monsters exist.
It is that ordinary people, in every country, can be pulled into systems that demand moral compromise—and that some of the bravest people are the ones who come home and tell the truth about it.
The world does not belong to dictators, generals, or politicians. It belongs to all of us.
And its future will be determined by those willing to defend not merely their own people, but our shared humanity.
Selected Sources and Further Reading
Former Israeli Soldiers’ Testimonies
Breaking the Silence. (2004–Present). Testimonies from Israeli veterans who served in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
Shaul, Yehuda. (2016, February 15). Former Israeli soldiers discuss the occupation and the belief that there is “no other option.” Democracy Now!
https://www.democracynow.org/2016/2/15/former_israeli_soldiers_break_the_silence
Quote:
“You are raised into the understanding that there is no other option.”
— Yehuda Shaul, former IDF soldier and co-founder of Breaking the Silence
Israeli Soldiers’ Accounts from Gaza
Reuters. (April 7, 2025). Israeli soldiers describe ‘kill zone’ and destruction along Gaza’s border.
Reuters interviewed Israeli soldiers who described permissive rules of engagement and widespread destruction in Gaza, with some questioning the necessity and proportionality of the operations.
Associated Press. (August 15, 2024). Israeli soldiers and former detainees describe allegations of Palestinians being used during military operations.
https://apnews.com/article/80f358dd2c87a1123f26ffada159701c
Pentagon Civilian Harm Mitigation Programs
The Washington Post. (March 4, 2025). Trump administration dismantles Pentagon civilian-harm offices.
ProPublica. (2025). How the Pentagon’s civilian protection efforts were weakened.
(Search: “civilian harm mitigation Pentagon”)
The Guardian. (2025). Pentagon scales back offices tasked with reducing civilian casualties.
(Search: “Pentagon civilian harm mitigation”)
Israeli Anti-Government Protests Before October 7
The New York Times. (July 22, 2023). Hundreds of thousands protest Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/world/middleeast/israel-protests-netanyahu.html
Reuters. (March 27, 2023). Mass protests erupt after Netanyahu fires defense minister.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/
(Search: “Reuters March 27 2023 Netanyahu fires defense minister protests”)
Associated Press. (September 23, 2023). Israeli protesters rally against judicial overhaul ahead of UN speech.
(Search: “September 2023 Israeli protests judicial overhaul”)
Continuing Israeli Peace Activism and Dissent
Le Monde. (June 7, 2026). The fears and hopes of Israel’s peace activists.
U.S. Campus Protests and Nationwide Demonstrations Over Gaza
The New York Times. (April–May 2024). Coverage of pro-Palestinian encampments across American universities.
(Search: “Gaza campus protests encampments New York Times April 2024”)
Associated Press. (May 2024). How the Gaza protests spread across U.S. campuses.
(Search: “Gaza protests spread across US campuses AP May 2024”)
CNN. (April 2024). Timeline of student encampments and demonstrations over the war in Gaza.
(Search: “CNN Gaza campus protests timeline”)
Historical Context Referenced in the Article
- March–September 2023: Mass Israeli protests against judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government.
- October 7, 2023: Hamas attacks southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking hostages, fundamentally altering Israeli politics and public discourse.
- 2024–2025: Continued Israeli anti-government demonstrations demanding elections, accountability, and hostage-release agreements.
- 2024: Widespread student encampments and protests across U.S. university campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and changes to university investment policies.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings