According to Air Force Commander Major General Tomer Bar, he is aware of “threats on all fronts, and what is being said by our enemy. During this period they may try to test the boundaries of the front, our cohesion, and vigilance. We must continue to be alert. We have critical tasks to carry out for the security of the State of Israel and its residents.”
Over the past week, Major General Bar held talks with the commanders of the maintenance squadrons, operational squadrons, battalion commanders, and unit commanders, following the announcements of some 300 Air Force reservists that they were terminating their service, Reshet Bet Radio reported Friday morning.
Tomer Bar, 54, was appointed to head the IAF on April 4, 2022. So far, he suspended from the reserve service one of the leaders of the protest, Col. (Res.) Gilad Peled, the former commander of the Ramat David base, but reversed his decision two days later and reinstated Peled.
Framing the problem at “only” 300 refusnik pilots was in itself good news after Israel’s mainstream media had been pounding the tam-tom drums incessantly about 1,000 and more pilots who are planning to yank themselves out of the service.
Israeli media are split over whether to call the pilots’ action termination of volunteering to the reserves vs. refusing to serve. The fact is that Israeli Air Force reservists serve more than most (though not all) other IDF reservists, an average of one day a week every week. And it’s true that should they decide for whatever reason to stop doing it, they cannot be punished by law, just like any other reservist who informs the army that he or she is done. But the extended reserves service of IAF pilots is part of a long give-and-take relationship whereby the state invests millions in turning recruits into pilots, which opens up to them a life of considerable luxury as commercial pilots and corporate CEOs. The state also gives them the royal treatment in terms of their club Med-level service conditions, well above the norm in all the other IDF forces.
That is why the country is torn up over the decision of several hundred pilots to use their privileged position and their sometimes-irreplaceable value for the IDF as a means to extort the democratically elected Netanyahu government.
“This is our great and challenging hour,” said the commander of the Air Force. “I expect you to pay extra attention to cohesion, unity, operational viability, and competence. Each of you, whom I appointed, was appointed for these moments. I did not appoint you for your accuracy in landing, nor for your ability to generate air status evaluations. I appointed you to deal with this kind of challenge, because of your leadership and command abilities.”
“I trust you not 100% but 200% to lead the force in this complex period. The strength of the Air Force is not measured in the easy moments but in difficult moments, the moments of crisis – in our ability to maintain cohesion, unity, competence, and resilience,” Tomer said.
“Regarding our mission values – the Air Force in all 75 years of its activity acted according to the values and spirit of the IDF, so it was and so it will be,” he continued. “We are all obligated to maintain these values in every task or activity we carry out. I’m sure you all feel the responsibility. We have critical tasks for the security of the State of Israel and its residents. This is the main and most important task before our eyes and I trust you, and I am sure of your success.”
