200 fighter pilots from the reserve refused to continue serving
Protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan have taken on a sensitive security dimension, with Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy warning that the army is about to harm the scope of certain operations, due to the decline in the number of reservists who enlisted this month, in the wake of these protests.
About 200 combat pilots in the Israeli Air Force refused to continue serving as reservists, on Friday, according to what was reported by the Israeli Channel (12). The group of pilots (some of whom conducted covert operations) said they made their decision after Netanyahu’s speech, Thursday, and will review it in two weeks, indicating that they cannot continue to serve under Israel’s leadership into dictatorship.
Last Wednesday, 100 reserve officers told their commanders to stop volunteering for reserve service.
In addition, 150 officers and soldiers in Unit 8200 of the Military Intelligence Division announced that they would stop their military service in the reserve forces, as part of their protest against the government’s plan.
Israeli media also quoted dozens of regular soldiers as implicit threats to refuse to carry out orders if the government continues to pass laws marginalizing the judiciary. Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that 17 soldiers from the regular formations appeared in a video saying that they did not enlist in the army to protect a dictatorial regime. However, Netanyahu strongly rejected “the phenomenon of reservists refusing to obey orders,” considering that “succumbing to such a threat is an existential threat to the State of Israel.”
Fears of the Israeli army entering the line of protests against the Netanyahu government
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