Military Reservists and the Resistance To Netanyahu's Legal Overhaul

Abstract

In the months before the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, Israeli security officials warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his pursuit of a judicial overhaul was undercutting the army's preparedness for war, rendering the country vulnerable to attack. The government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel's history, sought legal reforms that would weaken the Supreme Court, viewed by the reforms’ proponents as too powerful for an unelected body. For the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who weekly took to the streets in opposition for nine consecutive months, Netanyahu's coalition was on the verge of destroying Israeli democracy. Dozens of reserve fighter pilots, drone operators, and intelligence officers, along with hundreds of reservists in other elite units, joined the demonstrations and threatened not to show up for duty. The community of army reservists who had become active in the fight against the judicial overhaul emerged collectively as a gatekeeper of Israeli democracy, serving as a key check on elected officials’ illiberal moves. This article explains the genesis of the reservists’ ideals, examines the history of their involvement in domestic politics, and looks ahead to the role they may play as Israel emerges from the post-October 7 wars.