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Areljak t1_jb1tz9c wrote

Reply to comment by Ligma_Bowels in Dozens of Israeli reserve pilots ditch drill to protest judicial overhaul by Dirty_Quesadilla

There are many potential reasons for something like this, including the military (or parts of it) developing its own political ambitions, being beholden to another power in some manner or seeing itself in a role which might require disobedience under certain circumstances... To name a few.

In this case it would be a sign of grassroots opposition to the ambitions of the ruling coalition.

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SorryPiaculum t1_jb273wa wrote

When you have a ruling government actively trying to weaken their countries judiciary, military protests sound pretty reasonable. Any attempt to weaken a democracies system of checks and balances should be seen as an attack on democracy itself.

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ParaBrutus t1_jb26aed wrote

They just had an election in November. It’s a slippery slope whenever the military refuses to follow orders from democratically elected leaders, particularly when they are protesting judicial reforms which are arguably legal but that they don’t like. It’s one thing for soldiers to refuse unlawful orders and another for them to refuse to follow orders, in general, because they don’t like the policies of their civilian leaders, in general. These are not 18-yo conscripts, they are pilots with a lot of training and responsibility.

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Areljak t1_jb29vt6 wrote

They are reservists who serve voluntarily.

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Tersphinct t1_jb3w2ne wrote

Reserves are mostly mandatory in Israel, not voluntary.

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LongGrift t1_jb57tzx wrote

They volunteer for more days than what is mandatory

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Tersphinct t1_jb59bg5 wrote

Many are "volunteered" without their knowledge. My dad got caught up in one of those schemes, and they basically excused it with saying they didn't wanna bother him with the paperwork where he asks to volunteer, so they just filed it for him an told him to show up for more days than he was supposed to.

Very few actually volunteer on purpose.

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ParaBrutus t1_jb2d0jd wrote

The entire US military is voluntary—that doesn’t give them the right to decide what drills they want to attend. They may have volunteered to be reservists but they are still required to follow orders while in the reserves. Maybe because they are pilots/officers they can voluntarily resign from the reserves.

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