Thousands of Israeli Reservists and Veterans Back Air Force Letter Demanding an End to 'Political' Gaza War
Last week, a group of nearly 1,000 active and retired Israel Air Force reservists signed a letter that set off a shockwave through Israeli society.
The writers called for the immediate return of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas through a deal and an end to the fighting in Gaza, which they said is being motivated by personal and political considerations rather than the nation's security. They also called on the people of Israel to make the same demands, wherever they may be, and in whatever way they can.
The military and government swiftly rebuked them, going as far as to dismiss the ones who are still serving, but very quickly, other veterans, reservists and former members of the security establishment joined the call. Among them were former heads of the Mossad and an IDF chief of staff, who echoed the message of the air force letter and condemned the government's criticism of it, which they called a stifling of civil dissent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have framed the letters as a call to refuse military service during wartime and a boon for the enemy. Netanyahu said the air force took a similar stand against the government's overhaul of the judiciary before October 7, and "Hamas interpreted their calls to refuse their reserve duty as weakness."
Israeli anti-government demonstrators take part in a protest calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem in March.Credit: Menahem Kahana / AFP
Israel Air Force
On Thursday morning, 970 current and former Israel Air Force reservists penned a letter demanding the return of the remaining 59 hostages and an end to the war, which they said "chiefly serves political and personal interests, rather than security interests at this point."
Among the signatories were former IDF Chief of Staff and Air Force Commander Dan Halutz, and Brig. Gen. Asaf Agmon, whose grandson Cpl. Gur Kahatzi was killed in Lebanon in November.
Continuing the war, they wrote, "does not benefit any of its declared goals, and will cause the deaths of hostages, IDF soldiers and innocent civilians." Only a deal will bring the hostages home safely, the letter said. Their letter concluded, "We call on all of the citizens of Israel to take action, and to demand everywhere and by any means: Stop the war and bring back all of the hostages – now! Every passing day endangers their lives. Every additional moment of [military] infiltration is a disgrace."
After the letter was published, the military said only about 60 of the signatories were currently active in the reserves, and that even fewer of them were cleared to fly missions.
In response, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Air Force Commander Tomer Bar decided to dismiss the active reservists. Twenty-five of the signatories retracted their support for the letter after being warned that it would lead to their dismissal after meetings with Bar.
In a Passover letter to the air force, Bar wrote that the branch's top priority was returning the hostages, and that "this is also the principal motivator for every action we take in the Gaza Strip." The letter, he wrote, harms unit cohesion, and has no place in a wartime military.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the dismissal, saying that it bolsters Israel's enemies. He called the petition's organizers a "radical, marginal group," accusing its members of trying to fracture Israel's society from within. Their one goal, he said, was "to topple the government."
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also rejected the letter, saying its signatories "attempted to undermine the legitimacy of the just war that the IDF is leading in Gaza," to return the hostages and defeat Hamas.
Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar (right), IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Israel Air Force commander Tomer Bar in March.Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
Israeli Navy
Hours after the military announced that it would be dismissing the air force reservists, some 150 retired naval officers signed a letter of their own on Thursday.
"Renewing the war distances us from freeing the hostages, endangers our soldiers and harms innocent civilians." It read, "Instead of taking targeted steps to advance a hostage release deal, we are witnessing government conduct that undermines the foundations of statesmanship, harms the public trust and raises serious suspicions concerns that decisions of national security are being dictated by illegitimate considerations."
The naval officers' letter also took aim at the recently passed government budget, and the ultra-Orthodox coalition parties' attempts to exempt their constituents from military service. "The public that serves feels betrayed," they wrote, saying that this inequality undermines the foundations of Israel's security as well as its social cohesion.
Armored Corps
A similar call was also made by Armored Corps veterans and reservists in their own letter published on Monday. The initiative was led by Col. (Res.) Rami Matan, the former deputy commander of the Yiftah Brigade.
Its 1,525 signatories also include several senior military officials who did not serve in the Armored Corps, such as former Prime Minister and IDF Chief of Staff Ehud Barak, former general and Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna and former Military Intelligence chief Amos Malka. Halutz signed this letter as well.
The signatories expressed their support for the air force letter, and wrote that "we believe that the State of Israel must do everything to bring back the hostages, even at the cost of ending the war. Continuing the fighting does not serve any of the war's goals as defined by the IDF."
They clarified that their call is not one to refuse military service: "It is an _expression_ of a legitimate opinion by citizens who are no longer in active service."
Unit 8200
Over 250 reservists and veterans of the Unit 8200, Israel's elite signal intelligence unit, published a letter of their own on Friday, expressing their solidarity with the air force reservists. "We join the call of the air crews in demanding the urgent return of the hostages," even at the expense of ending the war immediately, they wrote.
"We support and identify with the serious and worrying declaration that at this point, the war chiefly serves political and personal interests and not security interests." They continued that it is unacceptable that the political leadership is continuing the war as it stands, "with no statements to the public about achieving the war's goals."
Despite the ongoing war, they wrote, they can see Hamas continue its rule over the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the hostages in its dungeons. "The government has not taken responsibility, has not admitted that it has no plan and solution for this crisis, and certainly not through military means, as it has proven over the last year and a half. Only a deal can bring the hostages back safely, while military pressure leads mainly to the killing of hostages and the endangering of our soldiers." It concludes, "Stop the fighting and bring the hostages back – now!"
About 500 entrepreneurs, investors and workers from Israel's high-tech sector signed a letter with the same text as the Unit 8200 petition on Friday as well.
Special Forces, Paratroopers and Infantry
On Friday, over 1,500 veterans of the IDF's infantry units, the Paratroopers and special forces – including the elite Sayeret Matkal, Shayetet 13 and Shaldag units – signed a letter calling for an end to the war as well. According to the letter's writers, 16 percent of them are in active service.
The signatories clarified that they are not calling on reservists or soldiers to refuse to report for duty, and that they will continue to serve themselves. At the same time, they wrote, "We are determined to exercise our civil rights and warn against continuing this long-term fighting that endangers the lives of the hostages, soldiers and civilians, and seems to be continuing due to political considerations."
They also opposed the dismissal of the air force personnel, saying that it was intended to "silence legitimate civil criticism."
Government responses
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands in Budapest, Hungary in April.Credit: Bernadett Szabo / Reuters
Netanyahu responded to the reservists' and veterans' letter on Friday, saying they "were written by a small group of radicals, operated by foreign-funded organizations with one goal – to overthrow the right-wing government."
"This is not a wave. It's not a movement. It's a small, noisy, anarchistic, and disconnected group of pensioners – most of whom haven't served in years," he added.
Mossad
The next week, other members of the security services joined the air force letter's call.
On Sunday, about 250 Mossad veterans signed a letter of their own demanding an end to the war and the release of the hostages. Among the signatories were three former heads of the agency: Dani Yotam, Efraim Halevi and Tamir Pardo, as well as a former deputy Mossad chief and dozens of retired senior officials.
"We believe that continuing the war risks the lives of the hostages and the lives of our soldiers, and that we must exhaust every option for reaching a deal that will bring an end to the suffering," they wrote. "We call on the government to make the brave choice and act responsibly for the security of the country and its citizens."
They added, "We join the call to every Israeli citizen to demands the return of the hostages now and to stop the war. Every passing day endangers their lives, every moment of [military] infiltration is a disgrace. The sanctity of life, Mr. Prime Minister, is more sacred than the god of vengeance."
National Security College
On Monday, 100 alumni of the National Security College – where senior military, defense and government officials further their study before taking key leadership roles – signed a similar letter.
They were taught, the alumni wrote, that soldiers and civilians should not be left behind, and that solidarity is the supreme moral value. But for the past year and a half, they wrote, "the State of Israel has failed to realize this value."
They added that "the violation of the basic trust that Israeli citizens and soldiers place in their state, and primarily in their government, is disastrous. In the current circumstances, the Israeli government must recognize that fulfilling its obligation to provide maximum national security for the State of Israel and its people means stopping the fighting in Gaza and immediately receiving in exchange all 59 hostages – soldiers and civilians – who still remain in the hands of the enemy." Anyone making a similar call should be respected, they wrote, "and certainly not dismissed from the ranks of the military."
Demonstrators march with placards during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem in April.Credit: Hazem Bader / AFP
Shin Bet Security Service
Shin Bet Veterans for Democracy, a group composed of hundreds of Shin Betveterans who have joined the protest movement against the judicial overhaul, released a statement of support for "the letters of our brothers in arms," which they said "express a deep breach in the general public's trust in the October 7 government."
In a time of national crisis, the statement said, the government is putting its own considerations above those of the country, and has lost the trust of the people "due to its abysmal disfunction and the infiltration of hostile foreign elements into the center of its decision-making process."
Dismissing reservists further erodes this trust, they wrote, and without the trust of the public, Israel will not be able to recover and protect itself from external and internal threats. The group called for an official commission of inquiry into October 7 in order to restore this public trust. The signatories also demanded elections.
They wrote, "Bringing home all of the hostages back is a supreme ethical commandment, even at the price of temporarily ending the fighting." The message ended with a call to "Israelis who are fearful for the fate of their home, the economic sector and civilian organizations to act immediately and in any legal way possible in order to promote elections and the establishment of a state commission of inquiry."