Netanyahu threatens army: Refusal to serve illegally over Iran judiciary restructuring brings moral guardians back to the streets

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the threatened refusal of military reservists to work because of the planned restructuring of the judiciary.

“It cannot be that a group within the military threatens an elected government by saying, ‘If you don’t act as we want, we will stop defending the country,'” Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Monday. . request for conscientious objection and the conscientious objection itself are against the law. “In a democracy, the military is subordinate to the elected government and not the other way around.”

Several thousand reservists from various ranks of the army had announced in recent weeks that they would no longer serve if the government carried out their plan. Netanyahu said it threatened “the security of all Israeli citizens”. The reservists make up a large part of the Israeli army. “The government will act against it and take all necessary measures,” Netanyahu said without going into details about possible measures.

Netanyahu’s coalition plans to deliberately weaken the country’s independent judiciary. She accuses her of having too much influence on political decisions. In the coming week, an important part of the judicial reform to curtail the Supreme Court will be approved in parliament. Critics see the separation of powers and thus democracy in danger. Some even warn of the creeping introduction of a dictatorship.

The protest movement in Israel announced a new “Day of Resistance” for Tuesday. At the end of March, Netanyahu initially suspended the reform plans after massive pressure, including from the military, but put them back on the agenda a few weeks ago. (sda/dpa)