Air Force chief said giving protesting pilots until Oct. 17 to return or face removal

Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar will reportedly allow reserves pilots who stopped reporting for duty in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul to return until October 17, after which they may be considered unfit to continue flying and face dismissal from the military.

According to Channel 13, the October 17 date was chosen because of a large joint exercise the IAF is holding with the US Air Force. On that date, all squadron commanders will be required to present the preparedness levels of their pilots and a decision will be made about those considered unfit.

After the government passed its first major piece of overhaul legislation, barring the court from striking down cabinet decisions based on the reasonableness doctrine, hundreds of pilots announced that they would suspend their volunteer reserve duty in protest. Officials have warned the move by the pilots and other senior reservists could seriously hurt Israel’s preparedness for war.