IAF to dismiss reservists who signed letter demanding prioritization of hostages over war
60 in active reserves likely to be booted, but most of the 1,000 signatories are veterans, no longer serving; letter calls to end war but not for refusal to serve; IDF says soldiers can’t ‘use Air Force brand’ for political protest
A group of close to 1,000 veterans of the Israeli Air Force, the vast majority of them in retirement, published a letter Thursday demanding the return of the hostages in Gaza, even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas entirely.
After the letter was published, the military moved to dismiss every active duty reservist who signed it, saying soldiers cannot use the “Israeli Air Force brand” to protest political matters.
The letter did not call for a general refusal to serve, as had been previously reported, but instead urged the government to prioritize the release of hostages over the continuation of the war in Gaza, which the signatories argue now serves “political and personal interests” rather than national security.
“The continuation of the war doesn’t advance any of the declared goals of the war, and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, of IDF soldiers and innocent civilians,” reads the letter, which was published as an ad in a number of Israeli newspapers.
“As has been proven in the past, only an agreement [with the Hamas terror group] can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers,” it added. “We call on all citizens of Israel to mobilize for action.”
The military said later on Thursday that it found that only 60 of those who signed the letter were active reservists. Among the 60, only a handful were competent pilots, while the rest have been serving in headquarters roles, according to an IDF examination of the signatories.
Those 60 are likely to be dismissed.
The remaining 900 signatories were IAF retired veterans and names that were unknown to the military.
Some 40 active duty reservists who were initially on the letter removed their signatures prior to its publication after the IAF held discussions with them.
Among the signatories was former IDF chief of staff and IAF commander Dan Halutz, and Nimrod Sheffer, former head of the IDF’s Planning Directorate.
Retired Air Force members have published a letter calling for the return of all hostages, even at the cost of ending the war.
The letter expresses distrust in the considerations of the Chief of Staff and the Air Force Commander because it states that the war is pointless. The… pic.twitter.com/Y3O9gelVVK
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) April 10, 2025
IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar had sought to prevent the publication of the letter, which was originally slated to be released on Tuesday.
After its publication, Bar, along with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, moved to dismiss the active reservists who signed the letter, with the IDF saying that it has no issue with reservists protesting any matter in their civilian lives, as long as they do it without using the name of the military or their role.
Since the letter was signed by “air personnel in reserves and retirement,” the military said it could not accept a situation where reservists “use the Israeli Air Force brand” to protest political matters.
“It is inconceivable for someone to do a shift at [the IAF] command center and head out afterward and express mistrust in the task,” the IDF added, saying it is operating solely out of “matter-of-fact interests” and working to achieve the goals of the war, especially the return of the hostages.
Refusal to serve
After the military said it would dismiss the active reservists who signed the letter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the decision in a statement on Thursday in which he claimed that they had refused to serve: “Refusal to serve is refusal to serve, even if it’s only hinted at in whitewashed language. Statements that weaken the IDF and strengthen our enemies in a time of war are unforgivable.”
Netanyahu called the signatories “a group of fringe extremists who are trying once again to break Israeli society from within. They tried to do it before October 7 and Hamas interpreted the refusal calls as a weakness.”
Amid the mass protests against the government’s judicial overhaul plan in 2023, several groups of reservists, including in the IAF, issued statements saying they would refuse to serve under a regime they no longer viewed as democratic. The IDF has said, however, that Hamas had planned the attack at least a year in advance.
Netanyahu accused the signatories of “acting toward one goal — bringing down the government. They don’t represent the soldiers or the public.”
Responding to the letter, Defense Minster Israel Katz slammed the reservists who signed it, saying: “I strongly reject the letter by the Air Force reservists and the attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the just war that the IDF is leading in Gaza for the return of the hostages and the defeat of the murderous Hamas terrorist organization.”
“I trust the judgment of the chief of staff and the Air Force commander and am convinced that they will handle this unacceptable phenomenon in the most appropriate way,” his statement added.
Far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman also slammed the letter, calling for all signatories to “be fired from the army” and saying that the letter is “part of a media campaign” to undermine the government.
Almog Cohen, a lawmaker from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, called the letter “another open invitation to the next massacre.”
“The signatories, including a former chief of staff, continue to trade in the blood of our children with criminal irresponsibility, cynically using their military rank,” he said. “My demand from the chief of staff is to immediately dismiss those who are serving and to revoke the ranks and military pensions of those who are no longer serving. Any lenient treatment will lead to the collapse of the IDF.”
“The enemy is sharpening his knives and the blood of the victims on the foreheads of the refuseniks who are almost begging for another massacre,” Cohen concluded.
The military recently dismissed at least two reservist officers for refusing to serve, including air force combat navigator Alon Gur, who said he told his superiors that “a line was crossed,” that the state was “again abandoning its citizens in broad daylight,” and that he cannot continue to serve.
According to reports, those incidents were seen by the IDF as isolated cases, but a number of senior IDF officials were reportedly concerned that refusal to serve could become a larger phenomenon among reservists.
At the height of the 2023 protests against the judicial overhaul, hundreds of IDF reservists signed declarations saying they would no longer show up for reserve duty in protest of the government advancing its plans to curtail the judiciary.
However, when war erupted in Gaza with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and massacres, nearly 300,000 reservists showed up for duty, marking the largest-ever call-up of reservists in Israel’s history.
The Times of Israel Community.