Israeli Military Doctor Threatens to Refuse Duty if Judicial Reforms Continue

Tel Aviv, MINA – About 300 Israeli military doctors in the reserve unit have told the Minister of Defense, they will refuse the assignment if the government goes ahead with its controversial judicial reform plan, Middle East Monitor reported on Tuesday.

In a letter to the defense minister, the doctors said they could not continue to volunteer when the government “violated the basic contract between us and the country”.

“Unless there are gatekeepers and no effective judicial review,” the letter said, “we will not be able to trust our commanders when we are sent on military missions.”

“We will not serve a dictatorship,” they added.

Israeli lawmakers have begun debating a bill that would limit the powers of the Supreme Court.

Plans for a judicial overhaul sparked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition have sparked decades of mass protests.

The coalition says its goal is to balance government, legislative, and judicial powers with curbs on the Supreme Court which they view as too interventionist.

Opponents say the plan will erode democracy by removing the ultimate control and balance of government power and opening the door to corruption. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)