“If the Knesset does not enact one law or another because military personnel threaten not to serve, there is one definition for this – we become a junta on the same day,” Chikli said.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Following a discussion about the impact on the IDF’s operational readiness should reservists follow through on their threats to refuse to serve due to the ongoing judicial reform legislation, a prominent lawmaker called the phenomenon “criminal” and “despicable.”
As a bill aimed at reducing the Supreme Court’s ability to intervene on government decisions advances in the Knesset, reservists from various IDF units have said that they will no longer attend training sessions or turn up for duty.
One organization representing reservists announced that they would hold an event announcing their resignations in front of the Kirya military headquarters on Wednesday morning, if the reasonableness bill is signed into law.
Senior military officials held an emergency meeting on Sunday evening to attempt to determine the actual effect on the army if mass refusals occur, as the number of reservists who would actually participate is unclear.
The possibility that wide-scale refusals could damage the IDF’s readiness is unacceptable, Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) told Hebrew-language Mako News on Monday morning.
“I have not seen anything more despicable than this campaign of refusal. The public relations offices that are pumping it up are committing a crime against the people of Israel,” Chikli said.
“A person who says, ‘I’m not ready to serve because I don’t like the government, or this law,’ has blood on his hands. A threat of refusal is a… disaster. Not everyone understands how serious this is,” he told Mako.
Chikli added that if the balance of power shifts and government decisions become dependent upon the goodwill of the military, Israel will have transitioned into a third-world country style of governance.
“When [the government] becomes subject to the [whims of the] army, we will be Turkey or Egypt. I have no intention of putting up with this,” he said.
“If the Knesset does not enact one law or another because military personnel threaten not to serve, there is one definition for this – we become a junta on the same day.
“That’s a military dictatorship, a real dictatorship. We don’t have the luxury to submit to such threats.”
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