American intervention
The Israeli channel (13) quoted officials close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who are accompanying him on his current visit to Britain, that the United States had previously tried in the past to overthrow Netanyahu twice.
According to these officials, Washington is adopting multiple modes of intervention with the aim of fueling internal protests against Netanyahu, including President John Biden’s decision not to invite him to visit Washington before internal disputes in Israel over judicial reforms are settled.
The officials pointed out that the US State Department’s rebuke of the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Mike Herzog, last week, after the Knesset’s decision to allow Jewish settlers to return to the settlements that were evacuated in the northern West Bank in 2005, comes in this context.
Pilots mutiny
At this time, the “New York Times” quoted the Israeli Chief of Staff warning that the decrease in the number of reservists who came to the reserve service during March, “is about to harm the scope of certain operations.”
The American newspaper said it was “one of the most difficult internal crises in the history of Israel.” She explained that “the Israeli military leadership is also concerned about the protests of some ‘steadfast’ soldiers in military service.”
While the Israeli Walla website reported that about 1,000 former air force pilots declared their support for reservist pilots who refused to serve.
In addition to the pilots’ announcement, 150 officers and soldiers in Unit 8200 of the Military Intelligence Division announced that they would stop their military service in the reserve forces, as part of their protest against the Israeli government’s plan to weaken the judiciary.
Channel 12 reported that the pilots who announced the suspension of their service in the reserve are senior military pilots and lead air raids that “Israel does not publicly admit that it attacked,” such as Syria, and they are considered “very active pilots and participate in weekly military exercises and operations.”
The channel added that these pilots decided to freeze their military service in the reserve following Netanyahu’s speech, during which he said that the judicial plan will continue and that the law of the committee to appoint judges will be approved next week.
The pilots suspended their service for two weeks, after which they will discuss continuing the freeze. They said that Netanyahu does not intend to stop legislation of the plan as he leads Israel into a dictatorial regime and therefore they cannot continue to serve in the military.
