JNS.org—Israel’s national civil service authority has rejected a request by the NGO Breaking the Silence—which brings together former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers dedicated to exposing alleged mistreatment of Palestinians by the IDF—to participate in the country’s national service volunteer program. Breaking the Silence had described its goal as “to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the occupied territories.”

Their request was rejected “due to the fact that the organization deals distinctly with political activity and is not suited to any of the activities permitted by national civilian service regulations. According to the request presented to the committee, the organization is upfront about the fact that it deals with controversial political activity,” the committee stated, Israel Hayom reported.