Far-right Settlements Minister Orit Strock reportedly sparred with a top-ranking military official at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, after she questioned the conduct of Israeli Air Force pilots regarding air support for ground troops in Gaza.
“Is it true that there are pilots who are refusing to bomb for reasons of conscience, and aren’t giving support to the ground forces?” Strock, a member of the Religious Zionism Party, was quoted as asking by multiple outlets.
The basis for Strock’s question was unclear and does not appear to have any supporting evidence, with the Air Force offering intensive, round-the-clock support to ground forces over months of combat in Gaza.
Strock was quoted as saying such claims had reached her “from testimonies on the ground.”
Responding to Strock, Education Minister Yoav Kisch was quoted saying, “That’s a delusional question.”
Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, head of the Strategy Directorate of the General Staff, reportedly replied by telling her it was “a horrible question.”
“The short answer is that there is no such thing,” Toledano said, according to leaks from the meeting. “The longer answer is that the level of air assistance to the ground forces in the war is unprecedented. I am sure that if you ask the commanders in the field, you will get the same answer.”
Strock then reportedly said: “I can ask whatever I want. Don’t pass judgment on my questions.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then reportedly told Toledano that his reply to the minister’s question was “the correct answer,” but, “as regards the nature of the question, it is not appropriate for you to tell the minister your opinion of her question.”
Major General Eliezer Toledano speaks to the media in Tel Aviv, June 13, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The leak of Strock’s comments was met with intense criticism from political opponents, including Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who accused her of “disgraceful incitement,” and said her question and Netanyahu’s reaction proved that “the IDF and the citizens of Israel deserve a different government.”
Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen also took to X, formerly Twitter, to bash Strock’s suggestion, calling it “inciteful, conspiratorial and crazy.”
“The answer (which is of course ‘no’) doesn’t matter anymore because this trial balloon of incitement has already been pushed out into the world and is circulating online,” she added. “What a moral and political low.”
The notion of Israeli Air Force pilots as aloof and less committed to national security gained some traction in hard-right circles during the protests over the government’s judicial overhaul earlier this year, which divided the country in the months leading up to the deadly Hamas assault on October 7.
As part of the protest movement against the government radically reform Israel’s legal system, hundreds of pilots and other reservists from elite IDF units, said they would refuse to serve in non-emergency situations, while thousands of others from all parts of the army suspended their volunteer reserve duty.
However, when Hamas attacked the country and the war in Gaza began, there were no reports of any pilots or other elite IDF troops refusing to enlist, and the army reported far higher turnup rates than had been expected across all units.
Strock isn’t the first minister to cause controversy through such questioning. Last week, Economy Minister Nir Barkat claimed that ground troops in Gaza were being put in danger because they were not receiving sufficient air support.
“The number of air force bombardments has fallen dramatically. Soldiers are being sent to booby-trapped buildings like [sitting] ducks,” said Barkat, who is seen as a potential future challenger to Netanyahu’s leadership of the Likud party.
The result, Barkat claimed, were tactics that were “unnecessarily endangering soldiers.”
Barkat did not appear to be suggesting that the problem was pilots, but rather that international pressure was causing Israel leaders to rein in the air strikes.
His assertion was immediately rejected by senior military and political officials.
A ball of fire and smoke rises during an Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, on October 9, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/ Flash90)
Netanyahu was quick to berate Barkat at the time, telling him that “the fact that you keep saying this doesn’t make it true. There are operational considerations.”
IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said of Barkat’s comments: “Any IDF soldier on the ground that requires air support, for any mission, gets the necessary protection.”
On Sunday, Barkat publicly criticized the government’s policy on allowing fuel and other goods into Hamas-run, telling reporters before the cabinet meeting, “This morning, 133 hostages are still being held in Gaza by Hamas. While they are there, the State of Israel is continuing to transfer goods and fuel into Hamas’s hands.
File: Nir Barkat, minister of economy and industry, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on September 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
“Israel is fighting Hamas with one hand, and with the other is sending hundreds of trucks every day which extend Hamas’s life and enable it to continue fighting our soldiers. This is absurd. This must stop today,” Barkat said.
He added: “There is no precedent in history for a state fighting an enemy and providing it with goods and fuel to stay alive.”
Inside the meeting, Barkat reportedly criticized the policy regarding the northern border, too, saying Israel risked “losing the north” and that evacuated northern border residents would not be able to return home if a “definitive defeat” was not inflicted on Iran-backed Hezbollah forces there. “The Iranians are playing chess and the [Israeli] war cabinet is playing backgammon,” Barkat reportedly said, addressing Netanyahu. “You’re stuck in [the pre-war] October 6 [mentality].”
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Outrage as far-right minister suggests some pilots refusing air support for Gaza troops - The Times of Israel
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