Am I An Innocent Civilian?

There has been a lot of discussion since the start of the war about “innocent civilians”, or as it is even more problematically called in Hebrew, “uninvolved civilians” (בלתי מעורב). Even Israel supporters have said innocent civilians have been killed, although that’s not the goal for Israel. On the other hand, hostages who have returned have said “There are no innocent civilians in Gaza.”

Everyone is locked into his position, so let’s look at it from the opposite direction – am I an innocent civilian?

The term civilian seems like it should be the easier one to tackle. I am not now, nor have I ever been in the military, therefore I am a civilian. Israel has a conscripted army, so most people have been in the army, you’d probably consider them civilians once they finish their mandatory service, but then they join the reserves. Are reserves civilians? Probably not when they are on active reserve duty, but what about in between? After all, they have a uniform at home.

Gazans, of course, have no official army. Every Hamas fighter is therefore, in some ways, a civilian, from Sinwar on down. But we’re not going to talk about them, we’re talking about Israelis.

It seems that the idea of “innocent civilian”, or even more so, “uninvolved civilian” was created for a time and place where there were civilians who did not favor one side over the other in a war. Certainly, when Napoleon marched through Eastern Europe, the Jews really didn’t care who won – “A plague o’ both your houses!” There are also those civilians of one side who favor the enemy side, whom the enemy side would consider innocent and uninvolved. We have those in Israel, but the vast majority favor the Israeli side and favor fighting the war. Even the charedi parties who are fighting the draft have been on the hawkish side.

In a democracy, are the voters responsible for the actions of the government? What about the voters of the parties who make up the coalition? While Israel has a lot of problems understanding the definition of “democracy”, that hasn’t really been a factor in this war. No one was forced to vote a particular way. The party breakdown in the Knesset reflects the actual vote of the people and, so far, the judiciary has been unsuccessful in removing any politician from office since the last election. Vis-à-vis prosecuting the war, the Israeli civilians want this.

Back to me, my favorite subject. I was too old (40s) to join the army when I made aliyah, but if I’d been younger, I would have done it. Is willingness to be in the army a factor? In addition to taxes, I’ve donated money to buy military equipment for soldiers. Does material support matter?

I am an immigrant to Israel. I was not born here and I came of my own volition. I even moved to Yehudah (a.k.a. a settlement). I even have dual citizenship, so there is nothing forcing me to be here. If I have a choice and choose to be part of the country, am I an innocent civilian?

While I didn’t vote for Likud, the party of the Prime Minister and Defence Minister, I DID vote for Otzmah Yehudit, the party of the dreaded Ben Gvir. How about now? I oppose giving aid to Gaza and I was for the complete siege that Netanyahu announced at the beginning of the war, but never carried out – no food, no water, no fuel, no electricity until they release the hostages. How am I doing?

Since the start of the war, and thanks to Ben Gvir’s policies, tens of thousands of civilians now have pistols. Is an armed, right-wing supporting settler an innocent or uninvolved civilian?

I don’t want to be an innocent, uninvolved civilian. I’m a Jew and even if I didn’t live here, I can’t imagine saying, “This has nothing to do with me.” How about you?