You can’t keep the big brushstrokes of Israel’s politics out of its people’s army

In a letter sent on Tuesday, Lieutenant Colonel A., an active pilot with a sensitive role in the Air Force reserves, informed his commander that he was hereby ending his volunteer reserve service. This was “a personal decision,” he stated, and “not a call for refusal of any kind.” Simply, he explained, the authority to order the use of Israel’s military power “is now in the hands of a group that is acting to demolish the foundations of democracy” and thus “it appears that the contract has been broken and we are marching into the abyss.”

The “contract” to which Lt. Col. A was referring is that between the State of Israel and its troops — an understanding, a kind of covenant, according to which Israel imposes mandatory military service on its young men and women, and subsequently requires many of them to continue to serve for years in the active reserves that are central to the IDF. In some cases it encourages even more voluntary reserve service, notably in the air force, for those with particularly sensitive and expert roles. And in return, Israel’s military recruits reasonably expect that the burden of service be imposed equitably, and that the military actions they are asked to perform be legal and moral, and carried out on behalf of a democratic nation. READ MORE