The phenomenon of soldiers and reservists refusing to obey orders as a protest move against the judicial overhaul plan could destroy the state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters in London.
“Surrendering to such a threat is an existential threat to the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
The use of a refusal to obey orders as a political tool starts on the Left but can move to the Right, he added.
“It won’t end with one side, it will go from side to side. This question is very concerning to me. This is a very serious problem,” he said.
"The heads of the security establishment must take a firm stand against this refusal phenomenon.
State cannot exist without an army
"The state cannot exist without the army. You will not have a state It’s very simple. All the red lines have been crossed here,” he emphasized.
Although he sat in London, he referenced the domestic turmoil at home over his judicial overhaul plan, which has generated enormous protest including among reservists who have warned that they will stop their volunteer service.
"The state cannot exist without the army. You will not have a state It’s very simple."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Senior military officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have warned Netanyahu that such a refusal presents a security threat and have asked him to temporarily halt the legislative blitz to pass the judicial reform.
On Friday some 200 senior Israeli Air Force fighter pilots froze their active reserve duty, as the refusal movement grows.
Netanyahu is under additional pressure to pause the reform process due to the upcoming holiday period, particularly Israel’s memorial day for its fallen soldiers and its 75th Independence Day Celebration. Bereaved families are particularly fearful that the reform will mar Memorial day events.
Netanyahu said, “even if I stopped [work on] the legislation, those who want to create a provocation on Memorial day will do so.”
Netanyahu said that he had opposed both the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords and the 2005 Disengagement plan. At no time, he explained, had he politicized the death of his brother Yoni, who was killed in 1976 leading a daring rescue raid of hostages in Entebbe.
Fallen soldiers, he explained should never be brought into the picture. “I never said you are insulting Yoni.”
Netanyahu has pushed back at opponents of his reform plan, explaining that it will strengthen democracy.
An Israeli official underscored that message in London, defending both the plan and Netanyahu's announcement that he would take over the judicial reform process in defiance of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. She had said that doing so would be a conflict of interest.
The official said that this has no bearing on the issue because in a crisis this large it’s impossible for Netanyahu to stand on the sidelines.
It’s a sign of how absurd the debate has become that the will of millions of voters could be thwarted by a single government worker, the official said.
“This is how absurd the discourse has become: if you abolish the authority of an official [the Attorney General] to abolish democracy” then somehow that action of neutralizing an elected leader is deemed "a danger to democracy.”
The conflict of interest deal, “was never meant to be that encompassing,” the official said.