Israel: CO Yaniv Mazor imprisoned for his first term

Recommendations for action

CO Yaniv Mazor, 31 years old from Jerusalem, was arrested on 11 June, his birthday, for his refusal to take part in the Reserve Military Force. He was sentenced to 20 days of imprisonment in prison No. 4 near Tzrifin military base.

Yaniv served in the military from 1999 to 2002 and returned a few times to do reserve service. After a personal process, he decided he can not do it any more and decided to refuse.

On his way to prison, Yaniv told Haggai Matar that „Although this is my first time in prison I feel totally fine with it. I feel at peace with myself. My decision stems from what I saw in the occupied territories, things that made me realize I can no longer be part of the army. I can only hope that my action will inspire others who are now facing the draft or a reserve service and are still unsure what to do.”

Recommendations for action

Sending Letters of Support to Yaniv Mazor, Military ID 7030469, Military Prison No. 4, Military Postal Code 02507 , IDF, Israel, Fax: ++972-4-9540580

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to:messages2prison@newprofile.org and they will be printed out and delivered during visits. You should also wish him a happy birth day.

Furthermore it is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors’ behalf, preferably by fax, to: Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, Hakirya, Tel-Aviv 64743, Israel, E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il, Fax: ++972-3-6976711