Are there conscientious objectors in Israel?

Factual Questions
1

Some random train of thoughts led me to wonder whether or not there were conscientious objectors in Israel.

Note that I know that 1) there has been members of Tsahal who refused to serve in the occupied territory, but those were sent to jail 2) Jewish guys studying religion aren’t obligated to serve in the armed forces 3)Most Palestinians who are Israeli citizens aren’t even allowedto serve.
So, my question is whether or not there’s a legally sanctionned “conscientious objector” status open to everybody (for instance to, say, an agnostic Israeli Jew), if there is one, what are the conditions (say, would saying “I vaguely object to the current policies, so I’m not really that eager to join the military” be enough, or would you have to submit to a commission of high-ranking officers a 147 pages long essay explaining why your morals prevent you from staying within a 100 yards distance of a swiss army knife?), is there some form of alternative service (a civil service, for instance, or a service within the military in a non-combattant position) for these objectors, assuming they exist and finally, if there’s such an alternative service does it aplies to to the students in religion I mentionned above, or are they just exempt from all obligations?

And while I’m at it, a question maybe more difficult to answer to just crossed my mind : Let’s assume a family immigrate to Israel. 16 y.o. child, contrarily to mom and dad, isn’t particulary interested in living in Israel. S/he now turns 18 and is especially not interested in putting his/her life at stakes in the Gaza strip or something similar… He presumably got Israeli citizenship, an is on Israeli soil. Assuming he’s still citizen of his former country, does he have a way out? Will the Israeli authorities let him leave the country/ renounce Israeli citizenhip before he’s drafted?
Note that this is a purely hypothetical, I don’t have any friend who’s currently dragged in Israel screaming and kicking by his parents, or who’ s envisioning immigrating to Israel but is unwilling to serve in the military or somesuch, so don’t be affraid of giving potentially bad advices (even though I would rather not get factually wrong answers to my questions, of course).

2

I don’t know about COs specifically, but NPR aired a story a year or so ago about how a lot of Orthodox Jewish men get nearly automatic religious exemptions from the otherwise-rigorous Israeli military conscription law, regardless of how deeply involved they are in religious studies. Apparently it pisses off a lot of secular Jews there who see them as freeloaders. All of the benefits of citizenship, none of the sacrifices, etc.

3

Elendil’s Heir:

(bolding mine)

This is untrue. The exemption for Yeshiva students only applies to those who are learning on a full-time basis. I won’t claim there are no people who abuse this system and maintain businesses on the side, but what law, anytime, anywhere, does not have its breakers?

It’s true that the secular population by-and-large resents this; they don’t really see the value of full-time religious study in the first place. However, not conscripting Yeshiva students was one of the deals that the Ben Gurion government made with the Rabbinate, who see great value in that, and it’s something they’ll have to live with.

4

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3140032.stm They are called Refusniks. They have been around for quite awhile.