The Israel Broadcasting Authority said that soldiers in the Israeli reserve forces sent messages to their commanders that they would disobey military orders to call them into service if the Israeli government implemented its efforts to legislate laws aimed at bringing about changes in the judicial system and reducing the powers of the Israeli Supreme Court.
The government agency stated that the soldiers belong to selected combat units, cyber and intelligence units, in addition to recruits in the internal intelligence services (Shin Bet) and the Mossad.
Some of them - including officers - wrote in a letter they sent to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that the plan would affect their ability to continue defending Israel.
For several weeks, Israel has been witnessing massive protests against the plan of Benjamin Netanyahu's government to reform the judiciary, which its opponents see as aiming to bring about a coup in the system of government in Israel.
A report published by "Haaretz" newspaper warned that the political conflict "because of the government's plan to weaken the judiciary system has entered the ranks of the Israeli army, apparently on a relatively large scale."
The army is in the midst of a crisis
The newspaper added that this matter prompted the Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, to warn against it, noting that the main concerns of the Israeli General Staff now are not the escalating security tension in the Palestinian territories, nor the Iranian “nuclear threat”, but rather the presence of “initial indications of a crisis in the region.” Reserve forces.
The report warned that the crisis appears clearly in the Air Force, where most of the Israeli military power is concentrated along with the intelligence services, according to Haaretz.
The newspaper pointed out that there is "increasing concern about the possibility of refusing service among members of aircrews in reserve, or evading service, or not implementing part of it, in protest of recent political developments."
The newspaper also published an article by its military analyst, Amos Harel, in which he said that estimates in the Israeli army crystallized in that "anger and frustration due to the political situation and the constitutional crisis, in addition to the expected burden of service within the reserves this year, will lead to an expansion of the phenomenon of quiet evasion from military service."