The Israeli military announced on Friday, April 11 that it will fire air force reservists, who signed a letter the day before demanding an end to the war in Gaza, as they believe it only serves political interests rather than national security and would not return Israeli captives.
An official in the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) told The Associated Press that no individual, including reservists on active duty, will be allowed “to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting.”
The official condemned the letter, calling it “a breach of trust between commanders and subordinates.” The letter was signed by nearly 1,000 retired and current air force reservists, 10% of whom are active in the IOF.
The refusal to continue the war was also declared by other IOF’s units. On Friday, around 250 reservists from the elite 8,200 intelligence unit said in a letter that they were joining “the call of the aircrews in demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of an immediate change in the conduct of the war.”
The call reportedly provoked the ire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused the involved reservists of “encouraging Israel’s enemies”.
The signed letter is part of a wider refusal crisis that cast a pall on the IOF. A significant decline in the number of soldiers showing up to reserve duty was noticed in recent weeks, particularly after the resumption of the genocidal aggression on the besieged Gaza strip.
The +972 Magazine estimated in a report that over 100,000 Israelis have stopped showing up for reserve duty, which represents 50 to 60% compliance.
The magazine suggested that most of those who defied the enlistment orders “have no real ideological objection to the war but rather have grown demoralized, weary, or fed up that it is dragging on for so long.” Meanwhile, others, who form a small but growing minority, are declining on “ethical grounds.”
