IDF chief says protests must stay out of military amid unprecedented threats

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi issues a public letter addressed to all active and reserve servicemen, saying that Israel “has never known such days of external threats combining with an internal storm.”

“This is a time for responsibility,” he writes amid huge nationwide protests following the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The latter was axed over his warning that the growing reservist refusals in protest of the government’s planned judicial overhaul presented a national security threat that calls for stopping the legislation.

“Our enemies must know that we are standing guard and nobody is deserting,” Halevi says. “I am responsible that every mission given to you will be aimed at defending the security of Israel and its citizens, and will be in accordance with IDF values.”

He says the place for protest actions is in the public sphere and not in the military.