Pilots warn IDF chief that most IAF reservists will cease flying if overhaul passes

A group of Israeli Air Force officers warned IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi Tuesday that the majority of their fellow active-reserve pilots would cease reporting for duty if the government passes its legislative proposals to radically weaken the High Court of Justice.

The warning appeared to be the most far-reaching voiced by members of the security forces thus far, as opposition to the government’s judicial overhaul effort expanded deeper into the military’s ranks by the day.

Recognizing that the protests could well impact the army’s operational capacity, Halevi has held a series of meetings with senior IDF and IAF officers, including those who have been threatening not to report for reserve duty if the controversial legislation is rushed through without compromise. One of those meetings took place on Tuesday evening, with 20 IAF officers in attendance and representing a wide variety of units in the air force. A summary of the meeting was subsequently leaked to a handful of Hebrew media outlets on Wednesday.

The pilots in the meeting spoke for themselves but also sought to explain to Halevi that their concerns about the overhaul and their unwillingness to serve if it is passed were shared very broadly in their units, according to the summary

Halevi began the conversation by stressing how important reserve fighters are to the IDF’s efforts and warning about the harm posed by continued threats from reservists not to report for duty to the army’s ability to combat the external threats it faces, the meeting’s summary said.

The IDF chief pledged to speak immediately with government representatives as well as in the media about the importance of speaking respectfully about the military reserve members who have chosen to protest the judicial overhaul, amid a series of disparaging comments made recently against them. Likud Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said Monday that the protesting pilots could “go to hell.”

The reservists in the Tuesday meeting stressed that they are committed to the well-being of the IAF and the country but feel that the government’s effort risks eroding the state from within, the summary said.

Halevi issued a statement on Wednesday evening describing refusing to report for reserve duty as a “red line” that he would not accept.

However, the military chief added that he would “ensure that the tasks the IDF carries out correspond to its values ​​and are carried out legally.”

The latter comment appeared to reference concerns voiced by pilots who met with IAF chief Tomer Bar last week and told him they would refuse to carry out illegal orders, such as the one voiced days before by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who called for the state to “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwara. Smotrich apologized for the remark again on Wednesday and said he did not realize it would be interpreted as a command by officers who fear that there will no longer be any checks on the government’s power if the overhaul is passed.

Separately on Wednesday, over 400 reserve members of the IDF’s elite Maglan reconnaissance unit signed an open letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declaring that they would “not be able to stand idly by” if the government passes its judicial overhaul plans, in the latest of a series of letters by reserve soldiers threatening to refuse their duties over the legislation.

The government’s legislation represents a “gross deviation from the values on which we were raised, on which the state was founded and on which we volunteer to protect,” the commandos wrote, adding that they have fought for a state that protects full social and political rights for all its citizens.

“The passage of this legal reform negates some of these values and damages the democratic foundations of the state,” they charged, warning “if the judicial reforms pass, we, the undersigned will not be able to stand idly by.”

“We call on you to act immediately to stop the steps to weaken the judiciary and protect the State of Israel,” the reservists concluded.

Military, government and opposition leaders have decried the protests by soldiers, saying the army should be kept free of politics and warning that mass insubordination will harm national security. The threats ratcheted up Sunday as 37 out of 40 fighter jet pilots from a key squadron announced they would refuse to take part in a training exercise due to the overhaul and a rise in West Bank settler violence. The pilots said Tuesday they would show up to base as ordered, but only for discussions, and not training.

In another letter on Wednesday, addressed to IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, 43 reservists of an unnamed elite unit said that they would “not continue to volunteer for reservist duty,” if the legislation passes without dialogue or compromise.

“The State of Israel will not be a democracy, and won’t be the State of Israel we fought for” if the overhaul is passed, the reservists wrote, adding: “We will not serve in a dictatorship.”

The reservists lamented the “wave of wild incitement, delegitimization and contempt of half the nation” that opposes the judicial overhaul, noting that members of the coalition who have sought to frame the protesters as “privileged anarchists” were contributing to that wave.

Almost 300 members of the state’s security unit involved in protecting Israel’s emissaries overseas also wrote a letter urging the coalition to “immediately cease the current governmental coup.”

“Our members have fought terrorists in the airports of Paris, Rome, Vienna, Nicosia, and more. Our personnel prevented a mid-air explosion of an El Al plane when explosives were discovered in London and Zurich. Our men rescued Israel’s representatives in Cairo and many other places,” they said.

Reservists from the naval, intelligence, air force, and ground force branches of the IDF met with Gallant and Halevi Tuesday to discuss the wave of protests.

A reservist involved in one of the discussions told Channel 13 news that he left the meeting feeling “shocked,” complaining that Gallant “does not understand what is going on at all and speaks in slogans.”

Following the discussion, the defense minister vowed to “defend all reservists, including those who think differently than me,” but urged them to avoid refusal of their duties.

On Friday, reservists meeting with IAF chief Tomer Bar reportedly assured him that they would continue to do active service but expressed fear that the new hardline government’s conduct and judicial proposals could expose them to prosecution by global bodies, such as the International Criminal Court.

Israel has long argued against such probes, pointing to the strength and independence of its own judiciary, which is responsible for investigating incidents of wrongdoing by Israeli forces. But critics of the government’s legal overhaul warn that efforts to restrict the High Court of Justice’s power will rob the country of legitimacy in the international arena.