Tensions are high in the Zionist entity as Israeli officials voice concern over reservists’ recent threats that they won’t show up for duty in protest of the government’s planned judicial overhaul.
On Monday, all of the living former chiefs of the Israeli Air Force on Monday issued a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, expressing their worry over the government’s continued push to radically restrict the power of the judiciary, amid protests by pilots and aircrews.
“We are following with deep concern the processes taking place in the State of Israel and in the Air Force these days,” the former IAF chiefs wrote, as reported by Israeli media.
“…We are fearful over the consequences of these processes and the serious and tangible danger posed to the national security of the State of Israel,” the letter said.
Earlier on Sunday, nearly all reservist members of an Israeli Air Force fighter jet squadron announced that they would not show up to one of their planned training sessions later this week in protest of the overhaul.
The 69th Squadron pilots were the latest, and most high-profile, group of reservists to announce such a move.
“Reservists’ Protest Could Spread in Military”
Meanwhile on Sunday, Zionist media reported that Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has expressed his concern to Netanyahu over threats by members of the occupation army’s reserve forces.
Israeli media cited leaks from the conversation between Halevi and Netanyahu, reporting that the Israeli chief of staff warned that such move by reservists could expand to the point of harming the occupation military’s operational capabilities.
“I’m very worried by the spread of refusal to serve, and of the discussion about the refusal to serve. Already, this could harm the IDF’s operational capacity,” Halevi reportedly told Netanyahu, according to The Times of Israel.
A nearly identical warning was reportedly shared by Halevi to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who also passed it along to Netanyahu, the Israeli daily added.
“Alleged Plan to Assassinate Ben Gvir
On the other hand, the so-called National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir claimed on Monday that he has intelligence that some of the protesters against the government’s judicial overhaul are planning to kill him and Netanyahu.
The far-right leader of the Otzma Yehudit party told the Kan public broadcaster that while it was wrong to generalize about the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, within the protest groups there were those “who are planning the next murder.”
“Most of them are good people, but among them are those planning the next political murder, who say ‘you have to kill Ben Gvir, Sara Netanyahu, to murder Benjamin Netanyahu,’” Ben Gvir said.
“I see the intelligence assessments and I listen to those shouting from the bottom of their hearts,” he said. “There are leftist anarchists who some time ago crossed the red line and are planning to kill me and the prime minister.”
Israeli Opposition Outraged
Ben Gvir’s remarks on Monday sparked outrage among opposition figure.
“I call for Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir before it is too late!” National Unity party leader Benny Gantz tweeted.
“A person [Ben Gvir] who was involved in [Jewish] terror instead of being drafted into the army is delegitimizing patriotic protesters. Ben Gvir and the inciters are the fuel for [military service] refusal,” Gantz said, referring to recent threats by reservists to not show up for duty in protest.
Opposition chief Yair Lapid called Ben Gvir a liar and a “clown.”
“First, the TikTok clown made up that he looks at screens and gives orders. This morning he already started inventing ‘intelligence materials’ that do not exist. This is not only ridiculous, but it is also dangerous,” Lapid tweeted, referring to Ben Gvir’s presence at a police command center as officers confronted demonstrators.
