Ben Gvir refuses to delete staged clip of pilots not helping troops who back overhaul

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he won’t delete a video posted on his Facebook page showing Air Force pilots refusing to give air support to soldiers who back the government’s judicial overhaul, a clip that was denounced by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit as creating “incitement” and pitting soldiers against each other.

“I don’t intend to delete the video, which illustrates well the danger of [reserve duty] refusal,” Ben Gvir says in a statement, referring to the threat by many reserve pilots to stop their volunteer duty if the overhaul continues to be advanced.

“The video in question is meant to illustrate the concrete danger in the attempt by a tiny minority to refuse and to incite to refusal to serve. Anyone who refuses to show up due to the reform, whether from the Air Force or another corps, endangers Israel’s security,” he says.