As the government plows through with its contentious reform of Israel’s legal system, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi on Thursday implored servicemembers on both sides of the political divide to leave the military out of the argument.
Speaking at an officer training graduation ceremony, Halevi urged soldiers to “keep the IDF united”, referring to a reservist movement that calls on servicemembers to not report for duty in protest of the plan.
The Israeli military’s supreme commander said that as "Israeli society is shaken by controversy", the IDF is “a unique vanishing point of military and society and therefore the controversy also reaches its servicepersons.”
“Just as we knew how to contain this uniqueness throughout the years of the IDF's existence as the people's army, we will know how to do it today as well,” he said.
“We, IDF commanders, stand by this principle — the mission of the IDF is a single national mission, and there is no stopping it: protecting the state and maintaining the security of its citizens.
We will be attentive to the concerns of the troops regarding the debate, but not in order to take sides, but to leave it out and preserve a united IDF, united around its complex tasks."
“Two reservists can stand on both sides of the argument, and not involve the uniform in it. They will report to reserve duty, wear uniforms, leave the dispute out and go on a mission shoulder to shoulder," he said.
"When they are not on duty, the reservists are citizens and have all the rights enjoyed by citizens in a democratic country. This separation is the only way to maintain a reserve army, which is very much needed.”
Meanwhile, President Isaac Herzog also spoke at the event and said that he was doing his utmost to reach a broad consensus that would "prevent a terrible division within us, and preserve our state as Jewish and democratic."