Israeli defense officials are trying to assure civilians at home and allies abroad of the Jewish state’s stability amid an judicial overhaul dispute that has thrown the Middle Eastern democracy into an uproar.
“The State of Israel is a strong democracy and will remain this way,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said after a calling with Defense Minister Lloyd Austin. “I also raised the importance of unity and operational readiness in the IDF.”
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Gallant expressed public gratitude for the United States's “partnership and commitment” to Israeli security shortly after President Joe Biden’s administration emphasized that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial drive to constrain the Israeli judiciary would not affect U.S. aid to Israel. And Gallant’s conversation with Austin was just one of several Israeli attempts to dispel anxiety about a potential security crisis, as neighboring terrorist organizations chortled at the upheaval.
“Its trust, awareness and self-confidence have deteriorated into the crisis it is experiencing today,” Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Monday, as protesters raged against new legislation to restrict the powers of the Supreme Court. “This is what puts it on the path to collapse, fragmentation and disappearance, God willing.”
The intensity of the discord has been demonstrated by the vast outpouring of public opposition to the judicial overhaul program, which Netanyahu’s coalition government has begun to adopt by a simple majority vote. As many as a quarter of a million Israelis turned out to protest the overhaul during the spring, thousands of IDF reservists have threatened to resign over the dispute.
“There is a threat. This is a serious threat. ... It’s never happened before and we are going into a civil war now,” former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a British news outlet. “I mean, civil disobedience with all the possible ramifications to the stability of the state and to the ability of the government to perform and to the obedience of the large part of the Israeli population."
Olmert has a checkered record in Israeli politics, exemplified by his conviction on corruption charges in 2012, but he remains “a right-leaning former prime minister” joining a chorus of opposition to Netanyahu’s policy, as Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Vice President Jonathan Schanzer put it.
“Netanyahu is certainly coming under fire from the establishment,” Schanzer said. “There is undeniably a huge amount of criticism and a fair amount of chaos that has resulted from his vision.”
IDF officials tried to project confidence while attempting to persuade the reservists not to abandon the military. “At the current point in time, the IDF is competent,” military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters. “If reservists do not report for duty for a long time, there will be damage to the army’s competence. This is a gradual process that will be affected according to the reporting for duty of the reservists.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underscored the link between the political dispute and potential security crises in his call with Gallant.
“The two leaders discussed the range of Iran-backed threats to regional security and stability and agreed to continue working together to counter these threats,” a Pentagon spokesman said in a summary of their conversation. “During their conversation, Secretary Austin underscored the United States' belief that broad consensus through political dialogue, especially in the coming weeks and months, are critical elements of a resilient democracy.”
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Their call dovetailed with a visit by U.S. Army Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command and traveled to Israel to meet with Israeli Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF’s chief of staff.
"In the midst of this upheaval, the IDF has a great responsibility to protect the State of Israel and its citizens,” Halevi said Tuesday in an appeal to the dissenting reservists. "We must bring together the reservists who are very dear to us, whose contribution to the security of the country is great. Even those who made a decision with a heavy heart not to report, the IDF needs you."