Amid war, far-right minister attacks IDF reserve officers' 'fat pockets'

Far-right National Missions Minister Orit Struk attacked IDF reserves officers for their “fat pockets [stuffed with money]” in an interview with N12 on Tuesday.

Struk made the comment while being asked about the hundreds of millions of shekels being added to her ministry in the amended 2023 budget for uses like “family purity” counseling and “Jewish identity.”

“If the fat was trimmed elsewhere, like for example, the money that goes to the IDF chief of staff, which isn’t written in any law, and rewards the fat pockets of reserve officers, it would cut so much more than my tiny budget for Jewish identity,” she said.

She later took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify.

“In an interview with N12, I said that ‘fat would be trimmed from the 2024 budget’,” she said. “I gave the chief of staff’s funds as an example - illegal additions to the pensions of retired officers who have long since stopped fighting and still get tens of thousands of shekels. That was what I meant. Not to cut salaries of officers serving in reserves. I clarified, move on.”

Israeli opposition leader calls for far-right minister's firing

Opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Struk immediately.

“This is an outrageous and despicable comment of contempt against IDF soldiers and officers who fight and risk their lives from someone who never served in the army,” he said. “She’s a shameless extortionist who sits in studios and slanders our heroic soldiers. Anyone who damages national security during a war cannot continue to serve in the government.”

“It’s a good thing that the IDF’s reserve soldiers and officers don’t have their phones in the Gaza Strip,” said Labor MK Gilad Kariv. “That way, they’re saved the spit in the face from Minister Struk who was given more than half a billion shekels today – mostly for sectorial uses. Last week, Minister Struk lamented in the Knesset the incitement against her, and today she proved that when it comes to incitement and division, she’s an expert.”

Criticism of Struk’s comment came from the coalition as well as the opposition.

“Unfortunately, we have seen recently that Minister Struk isn’t good at choosing topics to discuss and the way she presents them,” said Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo. “It’s frustrating, it’s embarrassing, and I think it’s a shame. I hope that she will begin to train herself not to say anything if she doesn’t have anything wise to say.”

After the outrage caused by her words, Struk said she would reconsider if she wanted to go back to interview with N12.