National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Likud's Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar on Thursday posted on their social media pages a staged video showing Israeli ground troops in Lebanon asking for air support in the middle of battle - and the pilots in response ask them whether or not they support the coalition's judicial reform. When the soldier does not respond, an explosion is seen on the ground, and a dying soldier then says: “My brothers, from right and left, don’t play politics in the army.”
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After a barrage of condemnation, including from families of fallen IDF soldiers, Zohar deleted the clip but not before it was viewed 45,000 times and shared by many. Ben-Gvir did not remove it from his platforms where he received 7,600 likes and was shared 2,600 times. “I don’t intend to remove the video, which illustrates well the danger of refusal,” he said in a statement posted to his social media accounts.
A growing number of volunteers have said they would no longer serve after legislation to curb the power of the Supreme Court is passed in what they see as the first step in the coalition's assault on Israel's democracy. They mostly hold critical positions in the Air Force, intelligence and cyber warfare and in elite combat units.
“The video in question is meant to illustrate the concrete danger in the attempt by a tiny minority to refuse to show up for reserve duty and to incite others. Anyone who refuses to show up due to the reform, whether from the Air Force or another part of the military, endangers the security of the citizens of Israel," Ben-Gvir said adding, "I am happy that the vast majority of our heroic soldiers and pilots serve and protect us and our children unconditionally." Ben-Gvir himself had not served in the IDF because of his numerous arrests and his membership in the racist movement led by Meir Kahana who the U.S. had designated a terrorist.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant took to his own social media to condemn the clip that he said was an attempt to sever the unity of servicemembers, on land, air and sea, apart. "There cannot be an attack on the IDF in order to score political points," he said. "Leave the IDF out of this."
While both Ben-Gvir and Zohar say they sought to underline a sense of fraternity, some have argued that the video appears to try to whip up a right-wing frenzy ahead of a planned right-wing march on Sunday in solidarity with the government's legislation.
"We, bereaved families who lost their loved ones for the sake of a Jewish and democratic state, are shocked and hurt to the depths of our souls," a group of bereaved families said in a statement. "Distributing a video with the staged effects of a war dishonors our fallen and us. In the name of our loved ones who had the battlefield etched on their flesh, for the protection of a Jewish and democratic state, we are ashamed and embarrassed," they said, primarily directing their comments at Zohar.
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari called the clip an "attempt to sow internal discord" in the military. "We completely reject all statements against the commanders and fighters of the regular and reserve Air Force. These are the best fighters and commanders in the IDF, who risk their lives night after night." He also said that there was unquestioned camaraderie between the Air Force fighters and the ground troops, "who work together as one army for the security of the State of Israel."
Opposition lawmakers were also outraged. "Perhaps it is symbolic that the nuclear group that leads the judicial overhaul, except for Netanyahu, did not risk themselves on the battlefield, but enjoy preaching to those who did," said former IDF chief of staff and National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot.
"I'm turning to you after watching the shocking propaganda video you published against the refusal protest," IDF widow Hani Oren wrote to Zohar. "In the last seven months, I feel like I'm losing the country that I paid in blood for its existence. This film makes a caricature of fighters on the battlefield. It's a terrible injury, a complete lack of boundaries."
Hani Oren, who lost her husband David Cohen in the 1973 Yom Kippur War was horrified by Zohar's post. "It took tens of thousands of views to delete this shocking thing," she said. "Where did he get this monstrous idea from? It's not real. You don't understand what something like this does. It turns your stomach. It's unbelievable."
Another bereaved brother wrote in families' WhatsApp group: "I am trembling all over. My brother's oath was to protect the democracy he was born into, certainly not for Miki Zohar, Dudi Amsalem, Netanyahu and the group of criminals, thieves and robbers who betrayed the fallen IDF soldiers and their families. This will not pass in silence."
First published: 18:28, 07.20.23