Ex-Shin Bet agents call for halt to overhaul as military reservists renew rebellion

[Israeli]

Veterans warn pushing ahead with contentious judicial changes will tear ‘irreparable rift’ in society after members of elite units say they won’t volunteer for reserves

By TOI STAFF
26 June 2023

A group of hundreds of Shin Bet veterans called on Monday for the government to immediately halt its freshly revived push to overhaul the judiciary, citing the “critical damage” it will cause to the country’s security.

The protest came a day after the coalition renewed its plan to advance the contentious legislation, whereupon reservists in elite IDF units said they would stop volunteering for duty if it was passed, in the latest revolt by members of the defense establishment.

“Continuing with the legislation will tear an irreparable rift in Israeli society and will critically damage national resilience and the Israeli security system,” read the letter from the Shin Bet veterans, according to Channel 13 news.

(snip)

“Reservists from the Special Operations Division, Unit 8200 and military doctors have announced an end to volunteering for the reserves if the government does not immediately stop the coup d’état legislation,” the group wrote, referring to elite combat units, the secretive cyberwarfare unit, and the medical corps. “We are hearing about additional reservists from other units who are going to join [the protest].”

(snip)

“Without democracy, there will be no army, there will be no security, and this will be the end of the State of Israel,” the reservists said. “We will defend with our bodies and souls — in a nonviolent way — democracy and the gatekeepers of Israel.”

Source : https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-shin-bet-agents-call-for-halt-to-overhaul-as-military-reservists-renew-rebellion/