Jerusalem, March 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Dozens of Israel's air force reservists have announced that they will not show up to duty for a training day in protest of the government's planned judicial overhaul.
In an open letter, 37 of the 40 reservist pilots of Squadron 69, an elite air force unit, said on Sunday that they will not take part in an exercise scheduled for Wednesday.
The military did not comment on the letter, but Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a video statement that "any call for military disobedience harms the functioning of the army and its ability to carry out its duties".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's extreme-right coalition government is pressing on with judiciary overhaul to "curb the overly activist Supreme Court".
Fearing that Netanyahu, who faces an ongoing trial over corruption charges, wishes to gain excessive power over the legal system, tens of thousands of Israeli have been staging weekly public demonstrations over the past two months, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Israeli air force has counted heavily on reservists on the battlefield, particularly pilots, navigators and other aircrew members. The reservists have been called for training several times a year to maintain the air force's readiness.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz