Do you know how much it costs to train a pilot? There is an awesome deal in place between the Nation of Israel and its beloved and heroic fighters. We will love you, we will give you our souls, we will fund your training from our pockets in the most generous manner. And on the day of duty you will defend and protect us. They broke this deal..
-- Minister Galit Distal Abtaryan, about the air force pilots who threatened to not report to reserve duty
to remind you, the ones who threatened to not show up for duty were volunteer reservists. They already completed their required service and their required reserve duty and have volunteered to continue serving in the reserves for more years. They havent kept their side of the deal because they no longer want to volunteer their time after completing often a couple decades of service?
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The minute they said "We'll show up for work on condition because an Israel we don't control doesn't deserve to be defended properly" then they should have all been fired.
ReplyDeleteThey broke the deal in the sense that they were trained based on the historic statistic assumption of how many voluntary reservists would continue showing up. Sure, many wouldn't continue, but when dealing in large numbers it could be assumed based on historic patterns how many would Quitting as a group was unexpected. stick around.
ReplyDeleteIf a soldier declared right from the begining of service that they would never serve a day more than required I suspect that that individual would never have received pilot training.
CORRECTING A TYPO
DeleteSure, many wouldn't continue, but when dealing in large numbers it could be assumed based on historic patterns how many would stick around. Quitting as a group was unexpected.
The pilots in particular have a real issue with the judicial reform as proposed. Many air force reserve pilots work as commercial pilots on civilian life, regularly traveling outside of Israel. Because of their actions whilst on active duty, there have been various attempts over the years to have them arrested ant brought to the Hague for war crimes - i.e., the deaths of civilians during arial bombings.
ReplyDeleteThe main protection they have is that ICC rules preclude the ICC asserting jurisdiction where the home country's judicial system is seen as robust and impartial, such that any investigation/trial in such home judicial system. Israel's courts were seen as meeting this standard, thereby protecting the pilots whilst they were abroad. The concern with the reform is that it's possible that the ICC will no longer consider Israeli courts independent - leaving these pilots at risk of arrest and prosecution should they leave Israel.
Once you have to depend on the good graces of the ICC, you've already lost. Those anti-Semites can wake up tomorrow, reform or no reform (and give me a break, the reform is no big deal if people didn't *make* a big deal out of it; there's no other court in the world with a "reasonability" standard) and decide our courts aren't "robust" enough if they want to.
DeleteBy the way, Israel keeps identities of pilots anonymous for other reasons, so this doesn't hold up.
We all know the real reason is because Israelis respect (sometimes to an absurd degree) military accomplishment, to the extent that they put people into high political office who have no business being there just because of the number of falafels on their shoulders- and all that goes even extra for the fabled "pilots." The whole ICC thing is a post-facto excuse for a naked appeal to authority.