In a letter published Thursday to mark 50 years since the Yom Kippur War, Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar stressed the importance of mutual trust and unity of purpose to Israel’s defense capabilities, amid ongoing demonstrations by reservist pilots who have stopped reporting for volunteer duty in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul.
Bar cited comments made in a recent documentary on the war by pilot Meir Shani, describing the strength he derived from knowing “that someone stands behind you — the State of Israel, it’s yours. You are not alone like my father, who lost his entire family in the Holocaust.”
“These words are the basis of our existence,” said Bar, crediting this sentiment for turning the tide in the war.
The air force commander said there were two key components to Meir’s stance that are key in times of war: Trust and the self-sacrifice of soldiers.
“Trust by definition, is a long chain composed of links. Only a strong and durable connection between all the links in the chain will ensure the strength of the chain of trust,” Bar said. “The trust is bound in the links of all those who send the soldiers on the mission, however difficult and dangerous it might be.”
He also said there must be trust among the pilots and the rest of the air force, who “must work in partnership and out of mutual responsibility for the success of the mission.”
An IDF soldier looks at a Skyhawk warplane in the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War, October 1973. (State Archives)
Bar then hailed the devotion of the pilots who fought in 1973, saying they went to battle knowing neither they nor their comrades may survive while hailing the air force’s contribution to Israel’s ultimate victory in the war.
“The history of the war serves as a clear warning sign and teaches us to cast doubt on even what we thought we were sure of,” he said.
Noting the threats facing Israel along its borders, Bar warned the Jewish state’s foes “may unite in the next war to challenge us.”
“IDF soldiers in the air, sea and ground endanger lives over the past year countless times… In all of these operations we felt that the State of Israel stands behind us,” he continued.
“This principle must not be undermined!”
File: An Israeli Air Force pilot walks to his F-16 fighter jet during the ‘Blue Flag’ multinational air defense exercise at the Ovda air force base, on October 24, 2021. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Bar’s letter was released days after a report said he gave protesting pilots a two-week deadline to return to volunteer service or risk being deemed unfit to continue flying and potentially dismissed from the military.
Most Israelis who complete their mandatory military service are required to attend annual reserve duty, but those who’ve served in special units — including pilots — are expected to volunteer to continue carrying out the same duties while in the reserves, a commitment they usually take upon themselves.
Due to the nature of their positions, special forces troops and pilots in reserves show up more frequently for training and missions.
Many reservists have warned since earlier this year that they will not be able to serve in an undemocratic Israel, which some charge the country will become if the government’s overhaul plans are realized.
People look at an installation of a crushed Israeli Air Force fighter jet displayed in a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, March 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Around mid-July, over 1,100 Israeli Air Force reservists, including more than 400 pilots, announced that they would suspend their volunteer reserve duty in protest of the government’s agenda to overhaul the judicial system.
The announcement — unprecedented in scale and in terms of the centrality to the IDF of those signed onto the letter — sent shockwaves through the military, which struggled to stem a growing flood of reserve troops dropping out of volunteer duty to protest the overhaul earlier in the year.
Earlier in July, some 10,000 reservists who frequently show up for duty on a voluntary basis said they would no longer do so, after the coalition advanced the first major piece of legislation to upend the judiciary.
Defense officials have repeatedly warned that the phenomenon could affect national preparedness. Such warnings have angered the government and have earned the military sustained public attacks by hardline coalition members.
