Netanyahu backs removing protesting reservists, reprises call for unity

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appear together for a pre-Passover toast on a central Israel air force base, where they continue to exhort troops to maintain a united stance.

After talking up unity during an appearance together at another army base earlier in the evening, but skirting around the judicial overhaul, the two now make more direct reference to their tiff, exposing lingering rifts.

Netanyahu tells the troops that “with good will and real compromise, we can get to a broad agreement — that’s what I am striving for,” referring to the controversial overhaul, which has sparked mass protests, including from reservists.

He adds that Israel enemies should know that any internal rift will not affect the country’s willingness to fight, and speaks in support of air force chief Tomer Bar, who said Sunday that reservists who refuse to show up for service would be booted from the military.

“It’s relevant not only for the air force, but every part of the IDF,” he says.

Gallant, who had warned that allowing the overhaul to go forward as is, slicing a deep gash in the national psyche, could harm national security and dampen soldiers’ willingness to fight, does not address the issue directly, but speaks in favor of military discipline.

“When it comes to approving missions, when lives are at risk, there’s no room to waver — what guides us is how we carry out the mission and protect Israeli citizens,” he says. “That’s true for the soldier on the ground or the pilot on an operation, through to the IDF chief, the defense minister, and the prime minister.”