Israeli army: Air force reservists who condemned the war will be fired

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military said Friday it will fire air force reservists who signed an open letter that condemns the war in Gaza for only serving political interests instead of bringing the hostages home.

In a statement to The Associated Press, an army official said there was no room for any individual, including reservists on active duty, “to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting,” calling the letter a breach of trust between commanders and subordinates.

The army said it had decided that any active reservist who signed the letter will not be able to continue serving. It did not specify how many people that included or if the firings had begun.

Nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists and retirees signed the letter, published in Israeli media Thursday, demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the fighting.

The letter comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in Gaza, trying to pressure Hamas to agree to free hostages, 59 of whom are still being held, more than half of which are dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the letter on Friday, saying it was written by a “small handful of weeds, operated by foreign-funded NGOs whose sole goal is to overthrow the right-wing government.” He said anyone who encourages refusal will be immediately dismissed.

Soldiers are required to steer clear of politics, and they rarely speak out against the army.

After Hamas-led terrorists stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel quickly united behind the war launched against the terrorist group. Divisions here have grown as the war progresses, but most criticism has focused on the mounting number of soldiers killed and the failure to bring home hostages, not actions in Gaza.

Freed hostages and their families are doing what they can to keep attention on their plight, and urge the government to get everyone out.

For Holocaust Remembrance Day this year, Agam Berger, a military spotter who was taken hostage and freed in January, will perform at a March of the Living Ceremony in Poland — a yearly memorial march at the site of Auschwitz that honors the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and celebrates the state of Israel.

Berger will play a 130-year-old violin that survived the Holocaust and was brought to Israel, at the main ceremony in the Birkenau concentration camp. She’ll be accompanied by singer, Daniel Weiss, a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri whose parents were killed on Oct. 7.

Still, the war in Gaza shows no signs of slowing.

Since Israel ended an eight-week ceasefire last month, it said it will push further into Gaza until Hamas releases the hostages.

The Israeli military on Friday issued an urgent warning to residents in several neighborhoods in northern Gaza, calling on them to evacuate immediately.

Hamas-led terrorists killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 during its cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

Jews around the world will mark the beginning of Passover on Saturday night, gathering for a meal called a Seder that features symbolic foods and rituals to help recount a biblical story about bitter times, a flight from tyranny and, eventually, freedom.