Monday, July 17, 2023

PM Netanyahu: 'Unthinkable that group in military should threaten elected government'

During a government meeting on Monday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called out those calling for soldiers to refuse to serve in protest of the judicial reform, noting that in a democracy, the military is subject to the government, and not the other way around.

"We are all worried about the future of the State, and fighting to keep Israel a Jewish and democratic state," Netanyahu said. "We disagree on how to do this, and precisely because of this, we went to the polls."

"I will say here and now: The State of Israel was and always will be democratic. Correcting the reasonableness cause, which legal experts supported, and which is based on the Solberg plan, will strengthen the democracy. The claim that because of the correction of the reasonableness clause, democracy will collapse is disconnected from reality and its whole purpose is to scare the public.

"To all of those who wave the flag of democracy: In a democracy, the military is subject to the government, and not the other way around," Netanyahu added.

The Prime Minister emphasized, "In a military regime, the government is subject to the army - or to be more precise, to a group in the army. That is the difference between democracy and a military regime."

"Refusal [to serve] is in opposition to democracy and in violation of the law. In our democracy, refusal directly endangers the security of all of Israel's citizens. It eats away at the deterrence of our enemies and it endangers discipline in the military."

"It is unthinkable that a group in the military should threaten the elected government, 'If you do not do as we wish we will flip the switch on security.' No democratic country can accept such a dictate. Such a dictate is a destruction of the democracy."

"I will repeat: Refusal [to serve] endangers the security of all citizens of Israel. The government will act against it and will take all the necessary steps to ensure our security and our future."