In first, INSS security think tank issues ‘urgent alert’ calling for halt to overhaul

The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think tank issues a first-of-its-kind statement cautioning that the government’s judicial overhaul as currently being advanced “will seriously harm the functioning of the IDF, will reduce Israel’s ability to deal with its enemies, endanger relations with the USA and sabotage the economy.”

In what it calls an “urgent strategic alert,” the INSS cites growing refusals by IDF reservists to show up for volunteer duty, rifts with the US and growing warnings of economic dangers, as well as polarization in society as a result of the divisive plan, which “magnifies these threats and impairs our ability to tackle them.”

“Pursuing the judicial reform has already generated an unprecedented internal confrontation that weakens Israeli society and intensifies the security, geopolitical and economic threats facing it. We warn that pushing forward with the reform will further diminish social resilience; degrade the spirit that animates the IDF as well as its operational capabilities; undermine Israel’s ability to face its enemies and to preserve the support of its friends, particularly the USA; and weaken its economy as well as its flagship high-tech sector,” it warns.

“Hence, the reform legislation must be stopped immediately, so as to focus instead on the severe threats to Israel’s national security, and on the restoration of social cohesion and resilience.”