The 10 living former Israeli Air Force chiefs, who have all served at various points dating back to 1953, published an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday morning, stating that they were “trembling” from the impact of the government’s judicial overhaul on the readiness of the IDF’s pilots.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi is expected to meet in the coming days with a wide range of IDF reservist units to hear them out regarding their feelings about the current government, while encouraging them to continue to serve. On Tuesday, he is expected to meet specifically with various air force reservists, something which many are seeing as directly addressing the letters from the IDF reservist strikers as well as from the former air force chiefs.
The list started with Maj.-Gen. Dan Tolkovsky, who served as Israeli Air Force commander from 1953-1958 and runs all the way to Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin, who was air force chief until April 2022. The four air force chiefs whose names were absent from the letter are all deceased.
The letter came a day after 37 out of 40 pilots from the 69th Squadron made the stunning announcement that they would strike on Wednesday rather than attend their scheduled training.
According to the letter, all of the signatories are “following with deep concern regarding the processes which are occurring in the State of Israel and in the air force during this time period.
“From a deep knowledge of the centrality and uniqueness of the air force to the country’s national security, which you also know well, we are trembling at the consequences of these processes and to the grave and concrete danger which this represents to the national security of the State of Israel.”
The former air force chiefs emphasize that all of the air force reservists are special people highly motivated to serve the state.
They added that they support the air force chief and the rest of the air force “during this difficult time and request of you to stop [the judicial overhaul] and to find a solution to this dangerous situation at the earliest possible date.”
Purim eve remarks from the Prime Minister
Netanyahu addressed the dire situation on Monday night at a reading of Megillat Esther at the Beit Horon military base. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was present as well.
“I respect all our soldiers, regular [service-members] and reservists – at sea, on land and in the air. The Israel Defense Forces and the security forces of the State of Israel [represent the Jewish people’s strength as a nation]. Jews, Druze, Muslims, Christians and Circasians together defend this country.
“The IDF, the Border Police, the Israel Police, the Shin Bet and the Mossad reflect all parts of the nation,” the prime minister continued. “Time and again, we fend off our enemies, protect our country and bring peace with our neighbors.”
“We need to remember the essence of unity, which is the basis of our strength,” Netanyahu concluded.
Ben-Gvir referenced the recent national demonstrations against the judicial reform and the incident in which the prime minister’s wife was made to feel trapped in a hair salon by anti-coalition protesters outside.
“It is permissible to shout and demonstrate,” he said, “but there must not be anarchy [and] there must not be incitement. It cannot be that the prime minister’s wife is attacked in the hair salon. It cannot be that [we] see signs with very harsh messages.”
Ben-Gvir concluded his remarks, saying: “I call on our friends in the opposition to take responsibility. And to the demonstrators who want to protest on Thursday, I say: Freedom of protest is a fundamental right, it is the very essence of democracy. We will fight for your right to demonstrate and to shout, but we will not allow incitement, sedition or harm to the State of Israel.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded on Twitter to the remarks of his colleagues: “The only [entity] responsible for the chaos and the deep rift in Israeli society and in the IDF, is the most destructive government in the country’s history. Netanyahu, there are two parties in your government whose platforms are [built on] refusal. Why do you say nothing about them? Instead of miserable press conferences with the ‘TikTok clown,’ stop the madness.”
IDF chief of staff's upcoming meetings
On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that Halevi’s project of meeting with a wide variety of IDF commanders to keep a close read on the pulse of different units was already underway. In that respect, the announcement on Monday seemed to be an expansion of that move, but not an entirely new initiative.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.