Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that his ministry will not allow public calls in support of military insubordination, and that anyone expressing a refusal to serve will be removed from all service in the Israel Defense Forces.
“I am determined to eradicate the phenomenon of refusal from the IDF, just as I have acted since the beginning of my tenure as the defense minister. One law for all,” Katz tweeted in Hebrew.
The minister shared a letter signed by his office stating that Omri Ronen, a candidate within the far-left Democrats Party led by Knesset Member Yair Golan, will be barred from reserve duty in the IDF.
The letter was written in light of an interview Ronen conducted with Israel’s Channel 12 over the weekend, in which he said that he is in favor of “doing whatever it takes” to prevent passage of the judicial reform that the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to advance before the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7, 2023.
The remark was made in reply to a direct question about whether such efforts included the refusal to perform military service.
In 2023, Ronen began his political activities as part of the protests against the judicial reform. At first, he did so through internal organization with his comrades in the army and reserves, and then joined the organization Brothers in Arms and became one of its leaders. During the protests, he announced that he would suspend his volunteering for reserve duty if the government completed the legislation of the judicial reform bills.
Katz stated on X that he had instructed the IDF chief of staff to ensure that Ronen is expelled from any role in the military.
“This will also be done in any similar case in the future. The IDF must remain outside of political disputes and serve only Israel’s security,” the defense minister added.
