Retired Israeli Air Power pilots protest in opposition to the conflict in Gaza outdoors the nation’s protection ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on August 12, 2025
Itay Stern NPR
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Itay Stern NPR
TEL AVIV — Hundreds of Israelis have taken to the streets each week to protest the continuing conflict in Gaza and the federal government’s failure to carry dwelling Israeli hostages.
However on Tuesday, a distinct sort of demonstration passed off: tons of of retired Israeli Air Power pilots rallied in opposition to the waroutside the Protection Ministry in Tel Aviv.
It was the primary time the group, which calls itself “555,” had gathered in particular person to oppose the Israeli cupboard’s newest resolution — to launch an operation to seize Gaza Metropolis and develop the practically two-year conflict. The group, most over 60 years of age, stood below a banner studying “Don’t kill hostages and soldiers” — a message that echoed all through the speeches.
Many additionally burdened that their name to finish the conflict wasn’t solely about Israeli lives, however in regards to the deaths of Palestinian civilians as effectively.
Amongst them was Dan Halutz, a former chief of employees of the Israeli army and ex-Air Power commander. Difficult Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declare that Hamas nonetheless poses a big risk, Halutz advised the gang, “Who among the senior commanders in the IDF believes Hamas is a strategic threat we can’t defend against? I don’t believe there’s such a person.”
Turning to Israel’s present chief of employees, Eyal Zamir, Halutz added that “the war has run its course. Gaza is destroyed — structurally and humanly. There’s no army there. The last Hamas operatives are hiding.”
Halutz additionally addressed Netanyahu immediately, saying that if the prime minister had listened to President Joe Biden and ended the conflict a 12 months and a half in the past, “things would look different today.” The previous commander accused the federal government of missing the legitimacy to wage a conflict that “most of the public opposes.” He added that “the war in Gaza is eroding our morals, our values as human beings and as Jews. We will lose the right to send soldiers into battle if we don’t bring home those we already sent.”
Hagai Katz, one in every of Israel’s most adorned fighter pilots and a part of the 1981 air strike on Iraq’s nuclear reactor, was additionally there to oppose the marketing campaign to seize Gaza Metropolis. He advised NPR that he rejected Netanyahu’s promise that the transfer would get rid of Hamas as soon as and for all.
“We got promises from Netanyahu almost two years ago that only military pressure will eventually be effective. We heard it again and again,” mentioned Katz. “That’s what we heard when he went into Rafah. That’s what he said when we moved to Khan Yunis. And now again, the same story about Gaza — but we believe we’ll get to the same outcome now, with more dead hostages and probably soldiers and Palestinians.”
When requested what he would say to Israeli pilots now placing Gaza from the air, Katz acknowledged the ethical dilemma they face.
“That’s a very tough question because in today’s war, unlike 50 years ago, you don’t see the target. You get an accurate position or a picture, and you trust the system to check that there are not too many innocent bystanders around. On the other hand, realistically, we know that a lot of uninvolved people are getting killed. So they have a real dilemma: stop attacking or quit reserves — and in that, in some cases, quit protecting Israel — or keep going and kill innocent bystanders. It’s a major issue on the table.”
Would he battle in Gaza if he had been nonetheless serving?
“Probably I wouldn’t,” he answered. “And if that means I would have to leave the service, I would’ve done that.”
The pilots’ protest provides to a latest petition by former heads of Israel’s safety companies calling for the conflict to finish. Polls present a big majority of Israelis assist ending the Gaza conflict in alternate for the hostages’ launch. But the cupboard’s approval to launch a marketing campaign to take management of Gaza Metropolis has drawn warnings from the present army chief, Israel media reported, who says such an operation may endanger the lives of the estimated 20 surviving hostages in Gaza.
Thus far, the military has not issued call-up orders for reserve troopers to bolster mission. However the public debate — each in Israel and overseas — over whether or not the operation is legit is just anticipated to accentuate as universities mentioned they had been planning to go on strike this coming Sunday.
Emily Feng contributed from Tel Aviv.
