IDF reserve fighter pilots refuse to attend training in protest of judicial overhaul

Thirty-seven reservist fighter pilots out of the 40 stationed at the Israel Air Force’s 69th fighter squadron have declared their intention not to turn up for regular training flights on Wednesday in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul.

The reservists, who fly the strategic F-15i that is capable of attacking distant targets in the region, announced their decision on Sunday to the senior commanders of the IAF and to their squadron commander. Instead of training, they have said they will hold a dialogue regarding the issue under debate outside of government offices.

Defense Minister: We have to talk, and quickly

The situation that has evolved within the IDF has led to demands for the political echelon to “talk, and quickly,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in response to the growing calls by reservists to refuse to volunteer for service in protest at the judicial reform.

“We face heavy and complex challenges,” Gallant said on Sunday evening. “Calls for insubordination hurts the Israeli military’s ability to function and carry out its missions.”

Gallant’s comments came following Israeli media reports which claimed that the defense minister spoke with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in the past few days to discuss the threat of insubordination in protest at the proposed judicial reform and the potential effects the protests can have on the military’s ability to function.

According to reports, Halevi spoke directly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning him of the consequences the military could face with reservist recalcitrance, including the quality of the IDF taking a hit.

National Unity Party head and Gallant’s predecessor as defense minister, MK Benny Gantz, distanced himself from the calls to refusal to serve, calling on reservists to “keep serving and show up, no matter what.

“[You must] defend this country, in protests and in service,” Gantz, also a former IDF chief of staff, said in a faction meeting in the Knesset. “Don’t lend a hand to insubordination.”

Gantz’s faction-mate and his successor as chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, echoed Gantz’s words later on Sunday, calling on the 69th fighter report for training this week.

“The IDF is the only body whose sole mission is to ensure the existence of the State of Israel,” Eisenkot wrote on Facebook. “There is no Israel without the IDF. We must keep it out of this important and just fight.”

Opposition leader and Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid also joined calls to stop insubordination in the IDF. After Lapid’s former spokesperson and reservist Roei Konkol called on fellow reservists to refuse to show up for reserve duty, Lapid wrote that the IDF “is the people’s army and I oppose any refusal to serve.

“We will continue to argue on this, but I know that even if he is wrong [in his call], he is doing it out of patriotism and fear for the country’s fate,” he said.

The announcement by the air force reservists came on the heels of a previous announcement last week from reservists in the elite 8200 intelligence unit saying that they would protest by not fulfilling some aspects of their reserve duty.

The strike will only last for one day

Although there were concerns that this could even impact the IDF’s operational readiness for military issues on critical fronts, including Iran, the reservists said that they would only strike for one day of training, not all of the days, and would respond as normal if called on for any actual operational events.

That said, one of the reasons that Israel’s air force is viewed as so powerful is the constant and regular training its pilots undergo, as opposed to other air forces where many of pilots are ready “on paper,” but could be out of shape in terms of sufficient training.

According to some reports, the fighter pilots fly some of Israel’s F-15i aircraft, which are a major component in the country’s attack capability and dominance against enemy aircraft.

The announcement came despite multiple public calls by Halevi for all reservists to continue attending reserve duty for fear of the IDF losing its operational readiness, and the army as a whole loses its unity.

The Jerusalem Post has learned that Halevi has been speaking personally and individually to many senior officers to keep them updated about the status of the various units, to keep a healthy dialogue open and to try to keep the military unified.

In contrast, the Shin Bet has prohibited its personnel from any protest activities.

Lt.-Col. “N” from the 69th squadron, with 20 years of service, said on Sunday, “The pilots of Squadron 69 will continue to serve the Jewish and democratic Israel, beyond the borders of the enemy at all times.”

However, he added, “like during other significant events which impact the pilots and require dialogue, we decided to stop for one day of scheduled training to talk about the worrying processes which the state is experiencing.”

Yisrael Beytenu MK and former minister in the Foreign Ministry Hamad Amar also voiced his opposition to the planned strike, arguing on TikTok that, “while I understand the reservists’ pain, as a Druze and the entire Druze community suffered due to the Nation-State Law.

“However, even then we never contemplated skipping on our service in the reserves,” the Druze MK said. “We were there because we have no other country! This is our country and we will fight for it!”

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 Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.