For several weeks, between 150,000 and 200,000 Israelis have been out in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem at weekends to protest. They are angry at the government’s attempt to transfer power from the judiciary to the politicians. A great many Israelis see this as a fight to save democracy. The demonstrations are gaining more and more support and the citizens are protesting in ever new ways. Netanyahu refuses to fly On Thursday this week, Israel’s Prime Minister will pay a state visit to Italy. But pilots in the country’s pride, El Al, have for several days refused to fly Benjamin Netanyahu. The Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post write that. Israel’s flagship El Al, here represented by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo: Amir Cohen / Reuters For several days, Israeli pilots have come close to humiliating the country’s prime minister. The Times of Israel writes that the solution appears to be that someone in the management of El Al who has the necessary permits as a pilot will fly the prime minister to Rome on Thursday. When Benjamin Netanyahu visited the French president in Paris in February, El Al is said to have done the same. – The same thing happened on the previous trip abroad, someone in the management flew the prime minister and will do it again. There are many who are against it and do not want to fly, says a former pilot in El Al to the Israeli media house Walla. – El Al does not support boycotts When the boycott action became known, Transport Minister Miri Regev is said to have opened the door for one of the two smaller airlines in Israel, Arkia and Israir, to be offered to fly the prime minister. Director of El Al, Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia, in front of the engine of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Ben Gurion airport on March 2. Photo: STEVEN SCHEER / Reuters The director of El Al, Dina Ben Tal Ganancia, states that El Al will provide a crew to take the prime minister and his wife Sara to Rome. – El Al does not support boycotts, especially when it is aimed at the country’s prime minister, reports the airline according to Al Jazeera. Opposition to the Israeli government’s reform of the judiciary is also increasing in the country’s armed forces, writes Al Jazeera. Resistance in the military The newspaper writes that 37 pilots and navigators who have been called up for a rehearsal exercise on Wednesday, will not show up. Al Jazeera writes that they are angry at Netanyahu’s attempt to change the laws, which they see as an anti-democratic act. The pilots belonging to Israel’s squadron flying F-15 fighter jets may be joined by pilots in other military branches who have signaled they will also join the protests. Israeli F-15 fighters take off at the Ovda airbase north of Eilat in Israel. 37 from an F-15 squadron campaign against the government. Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP – The irresponsible Israeli media inflates every statement from a reservist, says Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to Israeli Channel 12 TV. Israel’s defense depends on reservists to line up and train regularly. – Existential threat – When members of Israel’s armed forces threaten to refuse service in protest against legal reforms, it is an existential threat to the country, says the Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement came on Monday after it is known that doctors, pilots and other key personnel in the Israeli defense have said they will not serve as long as the government continues with its controversial reform of the judiciary, writes Haaretz. More and more Israelis are participating in the protests against the government. The picture shows a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday 4 March. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg / AP There have been several reports that reservists in the armed forces will not report for duty, writes NTB. All the surviving former leaders of the country’s armed forces earlier on Monday asked Netanyahu to stop all legislative proposals related to the reform work and “find a solution to the situation as quickly as possible. The government is not giving up But Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist right-wing government is currently showing no signs of giving up on the reform, which they want to introduce during April. Professor Hilde Henriksen Waage at the University of Oslo has, among other things, written her doctorate on Norway’s relationship with Israel. Hilde Henriksen Waage. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB She believes that the protest actions must be seen in the light of the fact that there are some extreme, far-reaching parties in the government. henriksen Waage adds that what is happening must also be seen in the context of a corruption case for which Benjamin Netanyahu is accused. – Netanyahu had the choice between going to prison or becoming prime minister, says Henriksen Waage to news. She points out that the government aims to politically control judges in the Supreme Court and that protests are now being launched against this. – It is as if the Storting does not like a Supreme Court judgment and changes the law to be able to set aside a judgment. Israelis against Israelis – The politicians aim to gain power over the legal system, she warns. Henriksen Waage says that 200,000 demonstrating weekend after weekend shows that the Israelis do not want democracy to be destroyed. – We see Israelis against Israelis. This is a rare diet, says Hilde Henriksen Waage. Boeing 777 from El Al. Photo: HO / Reuters
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Actions against Israel’s government – pilots refuse to fly the prime minister – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
