Israeli Law Pits Netanyahu Against Military – and Commanders Are Worried

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the protesters against his government’s controversial judicial overhaul as “anarchists” and “leftists” outside the mainstream of Israeli society. But the most consequential opposition to the bill, which was passed by parliament on Monday despite months of mass protests, comes from a key pillar of that society: the military.

While the bill was being debated, thousands of Israeli military reservists signed statements saying they would not report for duty if it passed. It was perhaps the most remarkable example of opposition to the bill, which blocks courts from evaluating the “reasonableness” of decisions and appointments made by the cabinet. Critics see the measures as part of an assault by the far right and pro-settlement parties in Netanyahu’s coalition on the independence of the judiciary, motivated in part by the prime minister’s own legal troubles. (Netanyahu is on trial for multiple counts of corruption.) 

In the most dramatic case of military dissent, more than 1,100 air force reservists, including more than 400 pilots, vowed last week to suspend their volunteer reserve duty. A letter signed by members of the group said the law “will harm the security of the State of Israel, will cause a loss of trust and a violation of my consent to continue risking my life.”

In the wake of the law’s passage, hundreds of active-duty reservists have already informed their commanders that they will not be reporting in what the newspaper Haaretz described as the start of “an avalanche.”

Most of the active-duty reserves of the elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal, in which Netanyahu once served, have also vowed to end their service. And dozens of former security commanders signed a letter backing the reservists. David Barnea, head of Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, reportedly told colleagues that he would be on the “right side of history” if a constitutional crisis broke out over the law. All six of his living predecessors have opposed the law.

The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi, sought a meeting with Netanyahu just before the vote to discuss its potential impact on the country’s military readiness, but the prime minister refused to meet with him. 

For Halevi, the stakes of this dispute couldn’t be higher. He warned in a letter published last week that without a “strong and cohesive” military, Israel “won’t exist as a nation.”

A "different IDF"

Most Israeli citizens are required to serve three years in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and are then eligible to be called up as reserves until they are 40. Around a quarter of eligible reservists are “active,” meaning they show up regularly for military duty. These reservists are critical to the structure of Israel’s military, Nimrod Novik, a foreign policy adviser to the late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, told The Messenger.

“I have no idea how many of them will follow through” on vows to not show up for duty, Novik said. “But even if it’s just 50 percent, that’s a different IDF.”

As an example, he noted that about half of all air force combat units consist of reservists. And while even those who are boycotting would likely report for duty in the event of a war or major national security crisis, pilots need regular training and practice.

“By definition, the people who volunteer for military service have more experience than anyone else," said Novik, now a fellow at the Israel Policy Forum. "These are the most experienced pilots; the most experienced cyber fighters. We’re about to lose a major portion of the most skilled, dedicated people.”

Novik said he is also concerned about how these events are being perceived by Israel’s regional adversaries. 

“In Beirut, or Damascus, or Tehran, they don’t understand the dynamics of Israel’s vibrant and complex society,” he said. “The intelligence picture suggests that the risks of them miscalculating our strength is growing. If this [crisis] continues a year from now, and if someone is tempted to challenge us, we’re going to face the consequences of the decisions made by our politicians.” 

A controversial intervention

While fewer Israelis serve as active reservists than in past years, the idea of what David Ben-Gurion once called the “people’s army” is still an important part of Israel’s national identity, and the unprecedented backlash shows the depth of the current divide.

The law’s supporters say that, far from undermining Israel’s democracy, they are protecting it from meddling by unelected judges pushing a liberal political agenda, and they see the reservists’ actions as yet another form of interference.

“A country that gives in to the threats of generals will actually become a country ruled by a military junta, and that is the furthest thing from a democracy," Israel’s far-right finance minister Bazalel Smotrich wrote on Facebook. His ally, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, shared a fictional video showing fighter pilots asking ground troops about their political opinions before providing air support. 

On the other end of the political spectrum, opponents of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories have criticized what they say is the hypocrisy and “cognitive dissonance” of calls for democratic accountability by those enforcing the occupation. Last month, as the protests against the judicial law were raging, the IDF stepped up its activities in the West Bank, including a deadly days-long raid on the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin, and was criticized for doing little to stop what one commander called a “pogrom” by Jewish settlers in the town of Huwara. 

No end in sight

Reservists aren’t the only essential workers taking action. The Israeli Medical Association called a 24-hour doctors strike on Tuesday and the country’s main public sector union is considering a general strike.

None of this seems to be changing minds within Netanyahu’s government. Several of his coalition partners are now pushing for more curbs to the court’s power, some of which were dropped from a previous version of the bill.

There may be more chaos to come.