IAF reservist injured in eye at overhaul protest says he won’t serve ‘dictatorship’
Former pilot Udi Ori dismisses ‘completely false’ claim he lost his eye after taking direct hit from water cannon on Tel Aviv highway, hopes to regain sight after further surgeries
A colonel in the Israeli Air Force reserves who was injured and required eye surgery after taking a direct hit from a water cannon during a protest against the judicial overhaul said Friday that he will no longer volunteer for reserve duty, vowing not to serve under a “dictatorship.”
Udi Ori was hit in the right eye during a protest Wednesday night that deteriorated into clashes with police who sought to clear several thousand demonstrators blocking Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway.
In an interview with Channel 13 news, Ori dispelled a false story spreading on social media that he had lost his eye as a result of the injury. “This is completely false. The surgery was very successful,” he said.
Ori still can’t see out of his right eye but said he hopes his sight will be restored following additional surgeries in what could be a lengthy recovery process.
The Tel Aviv protest was one of several held across the country on Wednesday after the Tel Aviv police chief Amichai Eshed announced his resignation. Eshed said he was doing so in protest of a politically motivated demotion ordered by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who had accused him of not responding forcefully enough to anti-overhaul demonstrators in recent months.
Asked why Wednesday’s protest ended in clashes with police, Ori cited a combination of increased frustration among protesters “as they watch the other side do things without taking them into account whatsoever” and Ben Gvir’s influence over the force, which he said led officers to crack down more harshly on the demonstrators.
Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital said 14 people were brought in for medical treatment after the protest. The injured included a demonstrator who was hurt after a driver plowed through the crowd, apparently while filming the incident on his phone, before being pulled over and arrested by police. He was reportedly released on Thursday morning.
In a statement, Prof. Igal Leibovitch, director of Ichilov’s Oculoplastic Institute at the hospital, decried the police’s use of water cannons.
“The high-powered water stream simulates a direct punch to the face with great force. It creates internal bleeding in the eye and may damage the lens of the eye and the retina,” Leibovitch said.
Police said they arrested 15 people in Tel Aviv. All of the detainees were released by Thursday morning, the Kan public broadcaster reported.
Ori pointed out that while illegal, demonstrators blocked roads in previous protests, yet weren’t dispersed by police with the same level of force.
Ori then said he informed his commander that he would no longer report for reserve duty because of the government’s decision to resume advancing legislation aimed at weakening the judiciary.
Ori, 67, flew combat helicopters for several decades until he turned 57. For the past ten years, he had been carrying out reserve duty on a volunteer basis.
“If there will really be a dictatorship here, our children and grandchildren will ask us how it could be that we continued to serve. You cannot serve a dictator,” he told Channel 13.
The Wednesday night protests echoed larger ones that took place across the country in late March the night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who raised the alarm regarding the judicial overhaul’s impact on security. Netanyahu went on to pause the overhaul the following day and later walked back his decision to axe Gallant.
Protests against the controversial legislation to remake Israel’s judiciary have been ongoing and recently ramped up as Netanyahu’s hardline coalition has renewed its efforts to push through some of the relevant laws. On Monday, thousands of protesters rallied at Ben Gurion Airport.
The protests have angered the coalition, with Ben Gvir repeatedly clashing with the force over its handling of the demonstrators. Ben Gvir has argued for a tougher approach with protesters, and more arrests.
