With the advent of Shabbat, the public was informed that another thousand pilots and aircrew members had joined the protest against not reporting for reserve duty. The public is exhausted by the legal-technical debate about the alleged difference between canceling volunteering and refusing a legal reserve order. In practical terms, this is a protest measure that exploits the critical vitality of aircrews as leverage for blackmail in a political struggle.
IDF Chief of Staff Responds to Refusal Calls: "Focus on Security Mission and Cohesion" // IDF Spokesperson
The problem currently facing the chief of staff and IDF commanders is unprecedented. All critics and advisors to the chief of staff deny the precedent of the event. What characterizes a precedent-setting situation is that past 'off-the-shelf solutions' can be not only ineffective but also harmful. The Chief-of-Staff's coping method is characterized by sensitivity to the complexity of the situation. Even if the Chief-of-Staff's conduct on the issue seems hesitant or even indecisive to his critics, nevertheless, from an in-depth perspective, the Chief-of-Staff's approach to coping is determined enough to be appropriate for such a complex event. It is apparently guided by his personal understanding that in a precedential situation, a special treatment method is required, adapted to the precedential circumstances.
The main question for assessing the situation regarding the IDF's situation in light of what is happening does not convene into a technical discussion of the significance of the aircrews' threat to the state of competence. It must first of all be examined in its impact on the spirit of the IDF, on unit cohesion and on the depth of emotional commitment that must exist between commanders and subordinates. These are the basic conditions for the supreme loyalty required in every army, and especially in the IDF as a people's army, to the battlefield tests.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, a precedent-setting problem lies before him, photo: IDF Spokesperson
As a commander who led soldiers on a controversial mission, in the summer of 2005 to uproot Gush Katif communities, I can testify that the main factor that motivated me and the tens of thousands of soldiers and policemen who worked with me, above the obligation to obey under the law, was the social force within the units, which became a unifying and unifying factor. My obedience to IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz also stemmed not only from the law and the order, but first of all from great brotherhood and emotional loyalty. This was the IDF's main virtue, with this force thousands of soldiers acted in the Yom Kippur War with supreme loyalty that causes great evil. This was also the case in the summer of 2005. Despite my distrust and that of thousands like me, in the purpose of the mission assigned to us, my personal distress and that of thousands of soldiers were restrained by the intensity of that emotional loyalty to everything that the IDF symbolized for all of us. From this force we acted with great unity, which was also expressed in devotion to the mission.
This sublime thing, the aircrew protest is shaking in an alarming and unprecedented way. Preserving the unifying spirit of the IDF in all its units is at this time the great challenge of the IDF commanders and the chief of staff. Even at this time, the IDF's spirit is strong and with the right leadership, it emerged from the crisis stronger.
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