Netanyahu under pressure when reservists oppose war in gas

Israel’s war in gas is grinding, but the opposition is growing.

In recent weeks, thousands of Israeli reservists – from all the military – have signed letters that demand that the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu government stop fighting and focus, and focusing to reach the transaction to return the other 59 hostages.

Eighteen months ago, a few Israelis doubted the logic of the war: to defeat Hamas and return the hostages.

For many in January, the ceasefire and subsequent return more than 30 hostages raised the hopes that the war could end soon.

But after Israel broke the ceasefire and returned to the war in mid -March, these hopes were spoiled.

“We have come to the conclusion that Israel is going to a very bad place,” the former head of the spy agency Masad told me.

“We understand that what is mostly concerned about Netanyahu is his own interests. And the list of priorities and interests of the existence of a stable government is the first, not hostages.”

Many of those who sign the latest letters, such as Yat, have long criticized the Prime Minister. Some participated in anti -government protests, which preceded the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023 after Hamas’s attack on Israel.

But Yat says that he did not decide to speak.

“I have signed my name, and I participate in the demonstrations not for any political reason, but for a national reason,” he said.

“I am very concerned that my country will lose my way.”

The first open letter, published in early April, signed 1,000 reservists and the Air Force pensioners.

“The continuation of the war does not contribute to any of the stated goals,” they wrote, “and will lead to the death of hostages.”

Subscribers urged Israelis to follow their role before it ended when 24 hostages are still considered alive.

“Every day passing, their life is even more risking. Every moment of hesitation is the shame of crying.”

In a few weeks since then, similar letters appeared from almost every military industry, including elite units and reconnaissance units, as well as a number of decorated commanders.

More than 12,000 signatures.

After October 7, hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists responded to a call, trying to serve.

But now they are more and more refusing, and reports believe that the reserve visit has dropped to only 50-60%.

For the military, which depends heavily on the reservists to fight his wars, it is an upcoming crisis that is not observed after the First Lebanese War in Israel in 1982.

In the leafy Jerusalem park I met “Joab” (not his real name), an infantry reservist who asked him not to identify.

Joab served in Gaza last summer, but said he would no longer do it.

“I felt like I needed to go to help my siblings,” he told me.

“I believed that I was doing something good. Difficult but good. But now I don’t see anymore.”

The government’s determination to continue fighting Hamas, while the hostages run the risk of death in Gaza’s tunnels, Joas said, was inappropriate.

“We are very strong, and we can defeat Hamas, but it’s not about beating Hamas,” he said. “It is about the loss of our country.”

During his stay in Gaza, Joab told me that he tried to become “the best moral soldier who could be a man.”

But the longer the war continues, the critics say, the more difficult Israel claims how often state officials do it, that its military is the most moral army in the world.

In a recent column to the left of the central newspaper Haarets, retired General Amir Levin said it was time for soldiers – starting with senior commanders – thinking about disobeying orders.

“The risk of being involved in war crimes and suffered a death strike on Israel’s defense and our social ethos,” he wrote, “makes it impossible to stand in the Imper.”

Some critics of Israel, including those who opened the case before the International Criminal Court and the International Court, claim that such lines have already crossed.

Netanyahu attacked the participants of the rally, rejecting concern as “propaganda”, spreading “small handfuls of fringe – loud, anarchist and disabled pensioners, most of whom did not serve in years.”

But polls believe that protest letters reflect a growing public conviction: that the release of the rest of the hostages should take place before everything.

In Tel Aviv, where noisy anti-war demonstrations have been held for more than a year, the hostage images are held up, and other participants of the action are sitting on the road, going photos of Palestinian children killed during the war.

Among the lines formed by letters, similar emotional displays appear to be knocking on the authorities.

On April 20, police briefly told the protesters that “photos of children or infants” would not be allowed, as well as posters that show the words “genocide” or “ethnic purification”.

After the expressions of indignation, the police quickly refused.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister continues to talk about his determination to defeat Hamas.

Military pressure, Netanyahu, continues to insist, is the only way to return the hostage home.