The IDF on Thursday took the unusual step of publicizing its penalizing two top naval officers, with ranks of brigadier general, for their refusal of their call-ups in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul policy.
Until now, the IDF has not publicized its penalizing of many of those who have refused, even if it did dismiss or penalize them.
In one of the few exceptions with a top air force officer in the Spring, the officer was suspended but then reinstated within days when both sides said there had been a misunderstanding.
The chief of the navy is only one rank higher, at major general, such that brigadier general level officers are the second highest rank level in the navy and are often in charge of the entire intelligence, operations, or other key divisions.
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A statement from the IDF said that the two had said they did not want to continue their service due to the disputed judicial legislation.
A protester shouts slogans near the Defence Ministry as IDF reservists sign a pledge to suspend voluntary military service if the government passes judicial overhaul legislation in Tel Aviv, July 19. (credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)One of the two officers’ service has been frozen after he spoke to the IDF Navy Chief Maj. Gen. David Saar Salama, while the second officer is due to have a similar conversation with the naval chief in the coming days.
IDF Chief-of-Staff (Lt.-Gen.) Herzi Halevi approved Salama’s decision.
The short public statement initially issued by the IDF, based on the timing, appeared to leave unclear if publicizing the penalties was connected to pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others in the coalition to strike back harder against the quitting service reservist movement.
However, an IDF spokesman later clarified to the Jerusalem Post that the decision to issue a penalty to the one officer who has already been suspended was made in the middle of last week, before the latest conflict with Netanyahu went public this past Friday.
According to that timing, there would be no connection between the two events.
Questioned about why the IDF made the punishment public specifically on Thursday, a whole week later, the spokesman replied that other outlets had started to publish incorrect information and sensationalized the incident.
One outlet had published that both officers have already been expelled, whereas one has been suspended and the other officer’s disciplinary process is still pending.
It was unclear if the reason the decision and public shaming were occurring was pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others in the coalition to strike back harder against the quitting service reservist movement.
The statement noted that all reservists in the navy above a certain age were legally volunteers.
Also, the IDF said that the navy would be able to continue its operations without changes, though there have been leaks that the navy, due to its small size, is under greater pressure by the reservist crisis than the infantry.
The air force and intelligence units are under the most pressure from the reservist quitting movement.
Both officers were promoted over time years ago in the regular course of their service, something which was published to correct mistaken claims by other outlets that their promotions had been improperly rushed.
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