'Shockwaves' across Israeli Air Force: Israeli media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli Media
21 Jul 2023 20:30

Israeli media say 1,142 reservists threatened to suspend their voluntary service over the judicial overhaul.

Israeli occupation military reservists sign a declaration of refusal to report for service in Tel Aviv, on July 19, 2023 (AP Photo)

Israeli media reported on Friday that the Israeli occupation Air Force is under shock, as 1,142 reservists, including 513 pilots, announced their intention to suspend their volunteering if the judicial overhaul was approved.

"The [judicial overhaul] legislation, which allows the government to act in an extremely unreasonable manner, will harm the security" of "Israel", the reservists indicated in a letter sent to Knesset members, Israeli occupation army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and Air Force Commander Tomer Bar.

"We're in a similar situation to the one in Israel just before the 1973 Yom Kippur War," Haaretz quoted an involved senior officer in the reserves as saying.

"Our expectation is that the top brass, the chief of staff, and the Air Force commander, will now bang on the table and warn the politicians of the expected consequences if they let this thing happen."

Israeli media considered that the pilots' letter sent shockwaves across Israeli military and political arenas.

Israeli media suggested that the Israeli occupation Air Force is losing its eligibility for war and is facing its largest crisis so far, warning that the Air Force may be out of operational competence in a short time.

According to the Israeli media, these reservists talk in closed circles about their great disappointment with Halevi and Bar because they do not report about the division in the Air Force and the reserves to Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Security Minister Yoav Gallant, which generated a major crisis of confidence in them.

The media pointed out that in order to bridge the ongoing gap, the Israeli occupation Air Force is making a series of adjustments within squadrons and missions to minimize the damage to operational readiness.

However, it warned that over time, this strategy will not hold.

Israeli media indicated that the number of reservists who will stop showing up to service is on a permanent escalating trend, as every day dozens of additional reservists join the movement.

Amos Harel, a military affairs analyst in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, pointed out that in the Israeli occupation Air Force, they are preparing for the possibility that hundreds of pilots and military navigators in the reserve will sign declarations to stop volunteering for service.

Harel added that leaders of the anti-overhaul protests understand that reservists not showing up for service could be the most important step in the framework of combating the government's plans to approve the overhaul.

The media described the ongoing division as deep and destructive to the Israeli military and might disintegrate it from within, warning that the occupation army might be significantly weakened.

The Israeli media mentioned that the Chief of Staff is putting on huge efforts to appear calm and reassured, while Gallant is maintaining silence. As for Netanyahu, it does not seem like he intends to back down from the judicial amendments, and this affects the interior front and the Israeli military.

As of last Wednesday, huge efforts were still being made to reach a broad agreement regarding the "reasonableness law" - a bill that limits some powers of the Israeli Supreme Court - with the help of legal professionals. However, Netanyahu claims that if he bows to pressure from the opposition, he will not have a government a week later.

The phenomenon of reservists refusing to show up for service is expanding due to the judicial overhaul, with some pilots saying that "unless the plan is stopped, no attack will be carried out on Iran's nuclear facilities."