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Hundreds of army reservists threatened mutiny as part of the protests against Netanyahu’s proposed judicial overhaul legislation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested a possible link between the 7 October Hamas attack and the pro-democracy movement that had protested against his judicial overhaul legislation for months before, Haaretz reported on 5 November.

The protest movement included reservists in the air force who refused to report for service. 

Netanyahu stated that refusals to show up for service should be investigated as something that may have influenced Hamas to launch the surprise attack, in which 1,400 Israelis were killed and some 240 taken captive by Hamas back to Gaza. 

Some Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed by Hamas, while some others were killed by Israeli forces who wished to prevent them being taken back to Gaza as captives.

As the weekly protests against Netanyahu and his judicial overhaul plan grew earlier this year, multiple defense and security officials warned the prime minister’s actions were harming Israel’s military readiness.

However, on 6 November, Netanyahu sought to backtrack his controversial statement, saying via social media that Hamas started a war “because it wants to kill us all and not because of any argument within us.”

חמאס פתח במלחמה נגדנו כי הוא רוצה להרוג את כולנו ולא בגלל שום ויכוח בתוכנו. חמאס טעה – ולכן יחוסל. רק יחד ננצח.

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 5, 2023

Hamas launched the 7 October attack at 6:30 am, but Israeli warplanes and Apache helicopters did not respond for hours. 

Many in Israeli society have blamed Netanyahu for ignoring warnings about a possible Hamas attack and some believe he may have been part of a conspiracy to allow the attack to happen for political benefit. 

A Channel 13 poll found that 44 percent of Israelis blamed Netanyahu, while 33 percent blamed the military chief of staff and senior military officials. 5 percent blamed the Defense Minister, according to the poll.

Netanyahu claims he was taken completely by surprise, and that he did not receive any warning.

Netanyahu has promised to investigate what led to the intelligence failure allowing the Hamas attack to succeed but refuses to do so until the war is over, which may take months or even years.

Netanyahu’s statement regarding the reservists’ refusals drew harsh criticism from Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who joined an emergency government with Netanyahu after the war began.

“Evading responsibility and mudslinging during war deals harm to the country,” Gantz wrote on X. “The prime minister must unequivocally retract his statement.”

Brothers and Sisters in Arms, a group of reservists who took a central role in the protests before the war said in response that “Netanyahu is stabbing the warriors in the heart in the midst of the war.”

Labor party head Merav Michaeli called for Netanyahu to be replaced and said “the blood of 1,400 Israelis” was on his hands. 

A report in The New York Times explained that General Herzi Halevi, the military’s chief of staff, tried to deliver the message to Netanyahu this summer that the political turmoil was emboldening Israel’s enemies. One document stated that the leaders of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah believed this was a moment of Israeli weakness and a time to attack.

However, the prime minister refused to meet with Genera Halevi and only two members of the Knesset attended a briefing other generals organized to deliver the warning.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference at the Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv on October 28, 2023. (Photo credit: Dana Kopel/POOL)