“Incitement” for military reservists to refuse to serve in protest of the judicial reforms, and the refusal itself, is “contrary to democracy and the law,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in remarks to the media ahead of the cabinet’s weekly meeting on Monday.
“Incitement to refusals is contrary to democracy. It cannot be that a small group threatens to do away with Israel’s security,” the prime minister said.
“I hear the voices in the public, I am attentive to them,” Netanyahu said, adding that “everyone” was worried for the future of the country, wanted to keep Israel’s Jewish and democratic, and knew that “we have no other country.” However, the two sides “differ on how to do this – and for this exactly we went to the polls,” he said.
“For all those who wave the flag of democracy, I want to say a few words about democracy. In a democracy, the military is subjugated to the elected government and not the opposite, while in military rule, the government is subjugated to the military – or, to be precise, to a group within the army. This is the basic difference between democracy and military rule,” the prime minister said.
“This is true in every democracy, but in our democracy, the incitement to refusals directly endangers the security of all of the citizens of Israel. They eat away at the deterrence of our enemies, who easily can be tempted to act of aggression against us, and they destabilize discipline within the army, which is the basis of the army’s existence in the first place,” Netanyahu said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a weekly cabinet meeting, July 17, 2023. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)The prime minister said that there cannot be a situation during which a “group within the army” decides to do away with Israel’s security, and compared this to a group of officials at the Israel Electricity Corporation and Mekorot [national water supplier], deciding to turn off the electricity or water supply due to political differences.
The prime minister’s other remarks
Netanyahu also wished the victims of Sunday’s terror attack near Tekoa Junction in Gush Etzion a speedy recovery.
“I wish a complete and speedy recovery to the Kapach family, and as we promised, everyone who harms us ends up either in prison or in the grave,” the prime minister said.
Netanyahu also commended a proposal by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, which he called “an unprecedented plan to fight the destruction of heritage in Judea and Samaria.”
“Anywhere in Judea and Samaria, if you just stick a hoe in, you discover history,” the prime minister said.
In an answer to the Jerusalem Post over whether it is necessary to push through the divisive judicial reform bill right before the Tisha B’av fast day, in which Jews mourn the destruction of the first and second temples as well as other national calamities, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that “it’s fine” and that with the Knesset break scheduled to begin on July 31, “it’s better to pass it now,” even if there are continued protests.
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