The Israeli left is threatening mass desertions from military reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms continue to advance in the legislature.
Netanyahu’s government is proposing to rein in the authority of Israel’s judiciary, the most powerful judicial branch of any government in the world. Many of the reforms are similar to existing practices in the U.S.
Earlier this year, a group of reservist pilots refused to show up for duty over the reform package. That, in turn, prompted defense minister Yoav Gallant to warn that the reforms were endangering national security. Gallant issued his warning while Netanyahu was out of the country, suggesting insubordination. Netanyahu fired him when he returned to Israel but told the country he would pause the reforms to negotiate with the opposition.
Three months later, the negotiations have stalled, Gallant is back in office after an apology, and Netanyahu is advancing the reforms — this time in piecemeal fashion, starting with the most widely accepted change, which would bar the courts from overturning government policies that judges simply feel are not “reasonable.” Despite the fact that even left-wing judicial figures admit this power is excessive, there have been nationwide protests.
Now, more reservists are threatening to desert — including cyberwarfare specialists and others. That has prompted a rebuke from Gallant, who said they were providing “a reward for our enemy.”
Israel’s left-wing politicians — including Benny Gantz, a former chief of staff of the IDF — responded by criticizing Gallant, according to the Times of Israel, and not by uniting against the threat of military desertion.
Israel faces ongoing terror attacks from Palestinian extremists; the threat of rockets from Iranian-backed militias in Lebanon and Gaza; and the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran, whose leaders have vowed to destroy the State of Israel.
Meanwhile, demonstrators continued to disrupt national life this week, blocking highways and holding rallies at Ben-Gurion airport in an effort to shut down ordinary life in the country — in the name of saving “democracy.”
Israel’s government was democratically elected in November and promised to enact judicial reforms after years of seeing laws and policies often favored by the conservative legislature overturned by the left-leaning judiciary.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.