Haaretz, Sep. 4, 2015

It was the parents of the children in Ashkelon’s School of the Arts who went to the mayor and demanded to revoke the appointment of Avital Benshalom as principal, after finding out that 13 years ago she signed a petition supporting soldiers who refused to serve in the army in the occupied territories.

The parents, not the authorities. [...]

The parents in Ashkelon acted on their own accord and from the bottom of their hearts to protect their right to continue sacrificing their sons to the state. [...]

In Israel, human instincts have been turned topsy-turvy. Not only are parents not struggling with all their strength against the sacrifice of their children and the obligation to recruit them and send them on any mission – they’re fighting anyone who speaks with a different voice, weak as it might be. The support for disobedience in that petition Benshalom signed was so feeble and reserved, after all. The petitioners didn’t call to refuse to serve in the military, they merely expressed solidarity. The disobedience called for is circumscribed (in the “territories”) and explained in patriotic terms (“the mission doesn’t serve Israel’s protection”). [...]

[T]he readiness to sacrifice one’s children for the state has not been impaired. [...] How is it possible that [...] the willingness to sacrifice their children is undiminished?

from http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium-1.674424