Dozens of Israeli Air Force reservists announced Sunday that they will not join a one-day training course in protest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms, shocking a country whose multi-ethnic army is supposed to be depoliticized.
The Air Force, Israel’s strategic arm, has always relied on wartime reservists, and outgoing aircrews are required to undergo regular training in order to maintain their readiness.
The 37 pilots and navigators from the F-15 squadron said in a message circulated by local media that they would not attend the training scheduled for Wednesday and would instead “devote our time to dialogue and reflection for democracy and national unity”.
The national-religious government is seeking judicial overhaul, including restrictions on the Supreme Court, which the Netanyahu government accuses of overreaching its powers. Critics worry that Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges he denies, wants to override the judiciary.
Israel is gripped by increasingly intense weekly demonstrations, some of whose leaders, including former military commanders, said the undemocratic shift in government would justify mass disobedience among the forces.
The reservists said in their letter that they would suspend their one-day protest if they were asked to carry out actual operations.
A military spokesman declined to comment on the letter but said in a statement that the army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevy, “is aware of the general situation and the division, but will not allow any harm to be caused to the IDF’s ability to carry out its most important mission, which is to defend Israel’s security.”
The statement stressed “the importance of preserving the neutrality of the IDF,” but said the officers had been instructed to speak with their subordinates about the issue.
Israel does not publish numbers of its military forces, making it difficult to judge the effect of protesting Air Force reservists or similar steps threatened by reservists from other branches.
“This Israeli media is irresponsible and gives opportunity to any reservist to make statements,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Channel 12 television.
He added, “There are tens and hundreds of thousands of individuals who will continue to join the army and perform service in the reserves and realize that we are brothers and bear responsibility for the great miracle, which is the Zionist project.”
Netanyahu, a former commando officer in Israel, posted a picture of himself on Twitter of draft age with the caption, “When we get a call-up for reserve duty, we always heed. We are one nation.”