Israel Air Force retirees and reservists dismissed from service after publishing political statement

Netanyahu backed the decision, calling the letter an implicit refusal to serve and an attempt to “break Israeli society from within.”

By Crystal Jones, TPS

One thousand Air Force retirees and reservists are being dismissed after publishing a letter calling for an end of the war in Gaza.

The letter was published in several Israeli news outlets as an advert, stating that the war is only for ‘political’ and not ‘security’ interests.

The piece read: “We demand the immediate return of the hostages home, even at the cost of an immediate cessation of fighting.

“At this time, the war primarily serves political and personal interests, not security interests. The continuation of the war contributes nothing to any of its declared goals and will lead to the deaths of hostages, IDF soldiers, and innocent civilians, as well as to the burnout of reservists.”

They also stressed that the letter was “not a call for refusal” to serve, and called on Israelis to “mobilize for action.”

The decision to let the signatories go from service shows a change in approach of leadership after Eyal Zamir became the Head of the IDF last month, taking over the position from Herzi Halevi, who served in the role for two years.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the decision, calling the letter an implicit refusal to serve, and an attempt to ‘break Israeli society from within’.

The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office published this morning said: “Prime Minister Netanyahu supports the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff in their decision to dismiss the letter’s signatories.

“Refusal is refusal – even when it is said implicitly and in slurred language. Statements that weaken the IDF and strengthen our enemies in a time of war are unforgivable.

“This is an extremist fringe group that is trying again to break Israeli society from within.

“They already tried to do this before the October 7th, and Hamas interpreted the calls for refusal as weakness.

“This noisy fringe group is being mobilized for one goal – to overthrow the government. It does not represent the fighters or the public. The IDF is fighting – and we are all behind it.”

Historically, IDF leaders have not taken action when reservists make political statements, but the IDF has said it made the decision to let go of those who signed the letter due to the “use [of] the Israeli Air Force brand” to voice political opinions.

Previously, reservists have only been dismissed from service after directly refusing to be called up for duty.

The group who penned the letter are thought to be mostly retirees, with around a dozen reservists, most of which have not served in many years. Those that signed the letter did so despite warnings not to.

On Tuesday, Zamir visited troops in the Gaza Strip and renewed urges to continue the fighting to defeat the terror group Hamas.

He told them: “You, the troops of the 36th Division, have returned to operate in the Gaza Strip, in an area where IDF troops are operating for the first time, the Morag Corridor, in an operation that caught the enemy by surprise, resulted in the elimination of dozens of terrorists, and led to the locating of numerous weapons.

“You are applying significant pressure. I expect you to bring about the defeat of Hamas’ Rafah Brigade and to achieve victory wherever you operate.

“As we approach Passover, the holiday of freedom, the objective of our operation here is clear and just — the return of all our hostages, the achievement of victory, and the dismantling of Hamas.”

The defeat of the Rafah Brigade in Gaza was declared by IDF in September, but Zamir said in his inaugural speech that the claim to victory was ‘premature’.

The closing of the bridge will ensure significant progress to an Israeli victory of the war, as it is often used by Hamas members to escape, by crossing the border into Egypt.

The war has continued since October 7 2023, after Palestinians from the Gaza strip, many of which were Hamas members, infiltrated Israeli territory and killed over 1,200 people, committed mass rapes, burnt down homes and took hundreds of people of hostage.

All but 59 hostages have been released in hostage deals over the past 18 months, many of which returned dead, with only the first part of a three part deal between Hamas and Israel agreed earlier this year being carried through, before the ceasefire stopped and fighting continued.

Only around half of the remaining captives are believed to be alive.