2023-07-22 15:52:21
In the Israeli Air Force, no less than 1,100 reservists have threatened to suspend their voluntary service, as Israelis tear themselves apart this Saturday as the final vote approaches on a bill aimed at reforming the judicial system in Israel.
The announcement of the project in January triggered one of the largest protest movements in the country’s history, which mobilizes tens of thousands of demonstrators every week.
On Friday, at least 1,142 air force reservists declared their intention to suspend their voluntary service if the Knesset (parliament) passes the bill. “We all have the responsibility to end the division (…) and the deep divisions within the population,” they said in a statement whose signatories include 235 fighter pilots, 173 drone operators and 85 commando soldiers.
This law “would compromise my will to continue to risk my life”
Any legislation applied in an “unreasonable” manner, “would compromise my willingness to continue risking my life and force me, with great sadness, to suspend my voluntary reserve service”, added the signatories, calling on the government to “maintain (the) independence” of the judicial system.
Most Israelis who complete their compulsory military service (lasting 32 months for men and 24 for women) are then expected to voluntarily participate in reserve service each year for a specified period.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that he was “taking steps to reach a broad consensus”, in a context of escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and in which the country’s military capabilities are important.
An open door to an anti-liberal or authoritarian drift
On Thursday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his door remained “open” for negotiations with the opposition, after a parliamentary committee adopted a key measure of this controversial project.
The debates on this law will begin Sunday noon in the Knesset and the vote in the 2nd and 3rd readings should be held on Monday. If approved, it will be the first major component of the proposed judicial reform to become law.
According to the government, the reform aims, among other things, to rebalance powers, by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, which the executive considers politicized, in favor of Parliament. But its detractors believe that it risks opening the way to an anti-liberal or authoritarian drift.
“We will continue to fight, unless this extremist government disappears,” Guy Maidan, who has been marching since Wednesday from Tel Aviv to the parliament building in Jerusalem, told AFP on Saturday, with the aim of demonstrating later in the day.
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