A former IDF general argued that Israel\u2019s control of the West Bank has similarities to discriminatory policies under Nazi Germany, and expressed fear that soldiers will not be motivated to defend the country if the coalition succeeds in shackling the judiciary.<\/p>\n
Amiram Levin, who headed the IDF Northern Command, commanded the elite Sayeret Matkal unit and served as deputy director of the Mossad spy agency, told Kan radio<\/a> on Sunday morning that the military is not only suffering harm<\/a> to its preparedness because of reservists\u2019 threats and refusals to serve amid the government\u2019s judicial overhaul, but is also \u201crotten to its core\u201d due to Iarael\u2019s ongoing presence in the West Bank.<\/p>\n Amiran Levin. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cIt stands on the side, looks at the rioting settlers, and begins to be a partner in war crimes,\u201d Levin told the public broadcaster. \u201cIt\u2019s 10 times worse than the issue of [military] readiness\u2026 and I say honestly, I am not angry at the Palestinians, I am angry at us. We are killing ourselves from the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Recent months have seen a rise in settler violence, with the United Nations earlier this month reporting <\/a>close to 600 attacks on Palestinians and their property over the past six months. The Israeli defense establishment recorded similar numbers during that period.<\/p>\n According to official data provided to The Times of Israel, there were 680 incidents of stone-throwing or assault of Palestinians by settlers in the first six months of 2023, compared to 950 in all of 2022.<\/p>\n The interviewer asked Levin if he agreed with a May 2016 speech<\/a> by former Meretz MK Yair Golan, who was IDF deputy chief of staff at the time, in which he said that processes in Israel were similar to some in Europe in the years leading up to the Holocaust.<\/p>\n \u201cWe find it difficult to say it, but that\u2019s the truth,\u201d Levin responded. \u201cLook around Hebron, look at streets, streets that Arabs can\u2019t use, only Jews, that\u2019s exactly what happened in countries like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressed on whether he saw specific similarities with Nazi Germany, Levin said: \u201cOf course. It hurts, it\u2019s not nice, but that\u2019s the reality. It\u2019s better to deal with it, even if it is hard, than to ignore it.\u201d<\/p>\n Levin also assailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s appointment of \u201cdraft dodger\u201d cabinet members such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who was not accepted for mandatory military service by the IDF because of his extremist activities.<\/p>\n The prime minister is being exploited by \u201ca messianic group of criminals, former \u2018hilltop youth,\u2019 people who don\u2019t even know what democracy is,\u201d he charged, referring to extremist settler activists.<\/p>\n \u201cThey come from areas where there is no democracy, from the West Bank, where for 56 years there hasn\u2019t been democracy there,\u201d said Levin. \u201cThere is absolute apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n While the challenge to the IDF\u2019s preparedness amid a widespread reservist protest movement is \u201cdisturbing,\u201d Levin said that \u201cmotivation and unity\u201d is more important.<\/p>\n He argued that the military managed to overcome its lack of readiness for the 1973 Yom Kippur War when Arab armies launched a surprise attack, due to soldiers\u2019 will to fight for the country. \u201cThis is not done for a dictator,\u201d he said, adding that soldiers have to believe in the country in order to fight for it.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd today there is a rupture. People don\u2019t believe that a country under a dictatorship will survive. And even if it does, it\u2019s not a place good people want to live in. Therefore, we need to be concerned a lot more about the coup and this awful group,\u201d he said, referencing the coalition\u2019s judicial overhaul legislation.<\/p>\n Levin also spoke on Saturday night at the central anti-overhaul rally in Tel Aviv<\/a>, where he burst into tears while appealing to Likud ministers to intervene and stop the overhaul.<\/p>\n In response to Levin\u2019s radio interview, Likud MK Danny Danon, a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, expressed disappointment that people who had contributed to the state in the past would express such sentiments, saying that \u201ctheir minds get a little confused.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who compares us to Germany or the Nazi regime needs to be examined,\u201d Danon said.<\/p>\n In response to Levin\u2019s comments, Ben Gvir\u2019s office said in a statement that the former general \u201cknows well that Ben Gvir was not drafted into the army because of political pressure from leftists.\u201d<\/p>\n The chief of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, met Friday with dozens of reservist pilots who have declared they would no longer show up for volunteer duty to protest the overhaul, warning<\/a> them that the state of the force\u2019s readiness was \u201cworsening.\u201d<\/p>\n An unconfirmed report by Channel 12 news added that Bar told pilots: \u201cInstead of preparing for war, I\u2019m dealing only with this.\u201d<\/p>\n As the coalition advanced the first major piece of related legislation last month, more than 10,000 reservists who frequently show up for duty on a voluntary basis said they would no longer do so. The reservists, some of whom have acted on their threats, have warned they will not be able to serve in an undemocratic Israel, which some charge the country will become if the government\u2019s judicial overhaul plans are realized.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Amiran-Levin.jpg\")
<\/a>