The legislation and the legal situation can still be changed or amended. But the damage caused to Israeli society as a whole, and to the IDF in particular, will take years to rehabilitate, and it is not at all certain that it will be possible.
Brothers in arms lying on the access roads to the Knesset and blocking Knesset members from coming to vote // Nimrod Bar-On
In order to try to minimize the damage, Defense Minister Yoav Galant tried, until the last moment, to find a softened solution to the situation. Galant, who is on his watch, understood that the potential damage to Israel's security as a result of the moves of recent days is enormous.
In a very unusual move, yesterday on the eve of the legislation, he instructed IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevy to brief the chairman of the state camp and former defense minister, Benny Gantz, as well as a member of his party, former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. No less unusual was the instruction he gave to the head of the operations division of the General Staff and the head of Military Intelligence to speak with cabinet members from the coalition.
The chief of staff also asked to meet with Netanyahu before the legislation, but a busy Netanyahu found time to meet him last night only after the law was approved in the plenary session in its second and third readings.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Galant (Archive), Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO
From the very beginning, the top echelons of the defense establishment decided to remain stately, to the best of their ability, and to reflect to the political and political echelon the situation as it is – without reducing the threat or inflating it.
Nonetheless, in all the talks and briefings, senior military officials voiced very disturbing messages to the political echelon, regarding grave concerns about the army's cohesion, which could later become a fatal blow to its competence and ability to deal with the surrounding threats.
What is clear to everyone is that from the current situation we find ourselves in, it is only possible to lose. In recent weeks, and especially in recent days, too many sacred cows have been slaughtered in the State of Israel, the main one being military service in the IDF.
Demonstrators in front of Border Police bills on Begin Road in Jerusalem, photo: Yoav Dudkiewicz/TPS
Brothers in Arms protest, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Concerned citizens, reservists, chose to use their reserve service to try to force the government to change its policies, claiming to have sworn to "serve the kingdom but not the king." This, despite the fact that they did not receive a single illegal order to carry out.
"Saving the State" in the Face of Severe Damage to the IDF
The vast majority, and probably even all of them, chose to do so with great sorrow and deep heartbreak, with the goal, in their view, of "saving the country." In practice, however, the announcements of non-reporting for reserve duty do untold damage to the IDF, and as a result, to the State of Israel, and weaken Israeli deterrence, which, regardless of the internal rift among the people, is greatly challenged by the growing self-confidence of Iran, Hezbollah and other evil seekers.
Some former heads of the security establishment who strongly oppose the government-led move backed the no-show notices, some called them insubordination, and even called the signatories of the petitions "heroes." But two senior opposition figures, former IDF chiefs of staff Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, who fully understand the complex security situation, showed responsibility and chose all along to call on reservists to continue to report to Israel.
On the practical side, senior defense officials note that at this time the army's fitness for war is very high, and it will take time before it is damaged. Defense Minister Yoav Galant estimates in closed talks that the protesting reservists, including the pilots, will arrive en masse on the day of order if war breaks out. Galant believes, and rightly so, that these are patriotic and responsible people, especially since it is clear that their failure to appear in such a case will affect their personal safety and that of their families.
There is something to fear: cohesion, normalization of refusal and harm to permanent service
But even if in the end everyone shows up on the day of an order, the harm to the army is here to stay. First of all, it is necessary to note the cohesion in the various units that has been critically damaged. Until now, anyone in uniform was required to leave their political views out of the military. There are quite a few servants who support the legal reform, and are alarmed by the decision of the pilots and other reservists to announce that they do not intend to report for service due to political decisions.
Representation simulating IAF pilots on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv (archive), photo: Gideon Markowitz
Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, Photo: Liron Moldovan
Without generalizing, quite a few of those serving in the Air Force's technical system, for example, support the legal reform and are very angry at the pilots who use their military duties to impose measures on the government. The plane won't take off without the pilots, but it also won't be able to take off without the same technical crews who arm it, equip it and fuel it. What will happen the next time a government comes along with a different agenda that doesn't suit these technical teams, or indeed any other unit in the army? The IDF cannot afford political refusal from either side of the map.
Another issue, which is actually related to the previous issue, is the normalization of refusal and disobedience to orders, even if they are not manifestly illegal orders with a black flag flying over them. The third issue, but certainly not the last, is the impact of the events on the permanent service. As we revealed in Israel Hayom, the IDF has suffered in recent years from a mass exodus of officers, and the great concern is that the government's recent moves, as well as the public discourse against military service, will accelerate this trend.
There are already positions in the army that are unfilled, or filled by very young and inexperienced servants. It is with great regret that the army is becoming mediocre, and as we know, no technology in the world can replace inadequate or mediocre human capital.
The chief of staff wrote this week in a special letter to those serving in the IDF that the situation can still be corrected. But the only way to begin, perhaps, with rebuilding the army is to prevent further divisions and reach broad agreements. What is certain, to our great regret, is that the IDF will no longer be what it was. And in our neighborhood in the Middle East, we don't have the privilege of being left without a sharp, strong, cohesive army.
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