The five began one-year prison terms on Wednesday after courts refused to recognize them as conscientious objectors. They said they could not serve in the army because of the military's abuse of Palestinians.
"I know already what prison is like," said one of the five, Noam Bahat. "I'm mostly afraid of wasting time, not being able to study and to struggle to stop the occupation."
During three years of bloody violence that has seen the Israeli military retake control of most of the Palestinian areas, set up dozens of roadblocks, carry out hundreds of raids and kill more than 2,500 Palestinians, only six young Israeli men have refused outright to join the army, citing the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as the reason.
However, uncounted others have evaded army service for other reasons — some of them clearly fictitious — with the Palestinian conflict lurking prominently in the background.
Also, several hundred reservists have gone to prison for refusing to serve in the Palestinian areas, though they have stated that service inside Israel or on its borders would be acceptable to them. Uncounted others have worked out quiet arrangements with their commanders to be posted inside Israel.
The most visible of the reservists refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza are small groups of air force pilots and soldiers in the army's top commando unit — fighters who have been held up as models to be emulated all through Israel's history.
Six wars in the country's 56 years have instilled a defensive kind of patriotism among most of Israel's nearly seven million citizens. Most readily serve in the army, three years for men and 21 months for women starting at age 18. Many men serve in the reserves until age 40.
The new phenomenon of refusing to serve in the Palestinian areas — or refusing to serve at all — reflects a split among Israelis about what to do about the Palestinian issue. Polls consistently show that more than half the people would be willing to give up much or all of the West Bank and Gaza for peace, but most Israelis also believe that peace is impossible because of Palestinian attitudes.
The result has been growing unease with the harsh Israeli military activities in areas many Israelis believe will one day be abandoned.
The Israeli government and military explain the operations by saying they are necessary to stop terrorism. During the three-year conflict, 905 people have been killed on the Israeli side, half by Palestinian suicide bombers.
Bahat's mother, Amira, worried that her son would suffer from the cold. The military refused to let him take his down blanket along to prison.
Since the day he was supposed to be drafted in December 2002, he has served about a year in jail and confined to an army base, cleaning and cooking while the military court debated the case.
The court ruled that the five are not conscientious objectors, but political demonstrators trying to change Israeli policy by undemocratic methods.
Bahat prepared on Wednesday to leave home, stuffing a backpack with books, including a recent unofficial peace agreement reached between former Israeli and Palestinian Cabinet ministers.
Serving a prison term "is not the highest price to pay" for Israel's military policies, Bahat said from his home in Kfar Saba, an upscale Tel Aviv suburb. "Every day soldiers and Palestinians are being killed ... and the only way to stop it is to stop the occupation."
The bearded, freckled 20-year-old said he expected the government to negotiate with the Palestinians and not use the army as a tool for its hawkish policies. He hopes to show the Palestinians that some Israelis care for their plight and to persuade other Israelis to join his cause.
An older brother serves in a combat unit. Their father, Udi Bahat, said they had both made the right choices, each finding his own best way to contribute to society.
Families and supporters hugged and kissed the men in the prison parking lot before watching them head into the confines of the concrete walls. "Let's go to jail!" joked one of the young men at the gate, as wind whipped a blue and white Israeli flag above their heads.
