Israel army chief warns Netanyahu of military crisis over judicial reform - report

Israel’s military chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi on Wednesday warned the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the deepening military crisis over the judicial overhaul, according to media reports.

Halevi met with the prime minister in Jerusalem for a security briefing, during which they also discussed the crisis in the army caused by the planned judicial reform, Israel's Walla News learned from unnamed sources who are familiar with the discussion. As a growing number of reservists have refused to report for duty in protest against the overhaul in recent weeks, Halevi is concerned the situation could worsen. 

He allegedly told Netanyahu that if the legislation passes it could lead to a deep crisis in the armed forces. Halevi had already warned the prime minister earlier this month that the “spread of refusal to serve” could “harm the IDF’s operational capacity.”  

Channel 12 on Wednesday said that 700 reservists in the Nahal Brigade sent a letter to Halevi and to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with a plea to do everything they could to stop the judicial overhaul. Also that day, Haaretz reported that only 57 percent of paratrooper reservists were showing up for duty this week. In some brigades this number reached 90 percent. The military did not deny the report.

Reservist Lieutenant Colonel Ron Scherf, one of the founders of Brothers in Arms, a group that signs reservists onto a declaration of refusal to serve, said earlier this week that if the reform passes, “we, and tens of thousands more who are with us, will stop volunteering for reserve duty.”

“The army is disintegrating before your eyes,” he warned, addressing Gallant.

These reports come as Israel braces for a “National Day of Paralysis” with thousands taking to the streets across the country to protest against the judicial overhaul for the 12th consecutive week.