Report: Two senior Navy officers end volunteer reserve duty in protest of overhaul

Two senior Israeli Navy reservists, who serve as deputies to Admiral of the Navy David Sa’ar Salama during wartime, recently notified the military that they would no longer show up for volunteer duty in protest of the government’s controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system, according to a Monday report.

For several weeks, as the government advanced the first major bill of its judicial overhaul, more than 10,000 reservists who frequently show up for duty on a voluntary basis said they would no longer do so. The reservists have warned they will not be able to serve in an undemocratic Israel, which some charge the country will become if the government’s overhaul plans are realized.

According to Haaretz (Hebrew link), two of five reservist Navy rear admirals who serve at operational headquarters and as deputies to Vice Adm. Salama in emergencies said they would end their volunteer reserve duty.

The newspaper named the officers as Rear Adm. (res.) Ofer Doron and Rear Adm. (res.) Eyal Segev.

The pair join a long line of Navy reservists and other officers who have announced in recent weeks that they would stop showing up for volunteer reserve duty, sparking fears within the military of harm to its operational preparedness.

In addition to those serving in Navy war rooms during emergencies, the Navy also heavily relies on volunteer reservists to carry out the screening process for new recruits to top units.

“I have served in the Navy for 44 years, half of them in the standing [military] and half of them in the reserves, in a variety of challenging command positions. Since my discharge, I have been volunteering 20-50 days a year, most of them at night and on Saturdays,” Doron wrote to Salama, according to Haaretz.

“My values ​​do not allow me to serve in the army of a dictatorship. The deterioration of morals and values is inevitable. My values ​​do not allow me to stand on the sidelines in the hope that ‘it will be all OK.’ The nation of Israel has already paid an unbearably heavy price when they were late in recognizing the dangers posed to them, from within and externally,” he added.

Segev wrote similar things to Salama, according to the report. “The current government of Israel, which was elected by law, decided to stage a coup and transform Israel into a dictatorial regime, where the governing power is in the hands of the government alone, without checks and balances and without effective criticism,” he said.

“The very clear process announced by the government will quickly bring the country to a regime similar to Putin’s Russia or Erdogan’s Turkey,” Segev added.

The Israel Defense Forces responded to the report saying that there had been no harm to the Navy’s training processes, which rely on reservists, and that operations at Navy headquarters “are being carried out according to plans and without changes.”

“Regular, periodic situation assessments are carried out on the subject,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said, referring to the judicial overhaul.

“Last week, the admiral of the navy held a direct dialogue with the senior reserve officers emphasizing the importance of the reserve service and maintaining the cohesion of the ranks. The reserve formation is an integral part of the IDF’s operational power and its ability to fulfill its mission and protect the security of the residents of the State of Israel,” the IDF added.

Unlike most reservists who are called up for duty with a formal order for several days a year, members of top units, especially pilots, are expected to train and carry out missions more frequently and in a voluntary manner due to the nature of their positions.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has appealed to the protesting reservists to show up for duty anyway, saying the refusal to serve harms national security.