Some 1,000 Israeli Aircrew Defy Threat of Sack to Urge End to Gaza War

Thursday, 10 April 2025 10:10 AM

Press TV

Israeli air force pilots walk to their plane at the Ovda airbase on October 24, 2021. (Photo by Flash90)

Nearly 1,000 current and former Israeli air force reservists have signed a letter demanding an immediate end to the regime's war on the Gaza Strip, saying it only serves political and personal interests. 

They published the letter on Thursday despite a warning by Israeli air force chief Major General Tomer Bar to dismiss the signatories from service.

"Currently, the war serves mainly political and personal interests, not security interests," they wrote, referring to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on on continuing the brutal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza.

The reserve and retired Israeli aircrew members added that the continuation of the Gaza offensive "does not contribute to any of its declared goal and will lead to the deaths" of captives and the occupation soldiers.

"As has been proven in the past, only a deal can bring back" the captives safely, while military pressure mainly leads to their killing, wrote the signatories to the letter, which was originally slated to be publicized on Tuesday.

They also called on all Israelis to mobilize and demand the end of the genocide in Gaza and the return of all captives. "Every day that passes puts their lives at risk."

On Wednesday, Bar met personally with the reservists, warning that if they signed the letter, they would be dismissed from service. However, only 25 retracted their signatures while eight additional aircrew personnel signed the letter.

In the meeting, the reserve officers strongly criticized Bar’s threat to dismiss all signatories, calling it a legal and ethical overreach that violates reservists’ rights to express political views, according to Haaretz.

On March 19, the Israeli military discharged two reservists, one from intelligence, the other from the air force, after they refused to join the resumption of the Gaza war, the newspaper said, noting that one had labeled ministers and Netanyahu “dirty traitors.”

Israel launched its deadly bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

In its operation, Hamas took 251 Israelis captive, 58 of whom now remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the occupation's military. Several of the captives have been killed in the regime's strikes on the besieged territory.

Half of the Israeli living captives are reportedly located in areas where the regime demanded be evacuated in recent days.

After one year and a half of war, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives of eliminating Hamas and freeing captives, despite killing at least 50,846 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Israel accepted longstanding negotiation terms by Hamas under a Gaza ceasefire, which began on January 19.

On March 18, however, Israel unilaterally broke the truce and resumed its relentless bombing of Gaza.