Israeli media reported this week that 37 out of 40 reservist pilots from the Israeli Air Force’s elite 69th fighter squadron will not show up for training this Wednesday in protest over the government’s judicial reform plan. While some opposition officials have called on the pilots to show up for duty, and leave politics out of the army, others have praised their protest. This report reeks of hypocrisy as those who called on soldiers not to fulfill their orders to carry out the 2005 expulsion of Gush Katif, were nearly universally condemned by those saying that soldiers can’t pick and choose. At the same time El Al had trouble finding pilots willing to fly Prime Minister to a scheduled visit in Rome later this week. Apparently El Al pilots have the right to pick and choose their passengers. “Hypocrisy” is the theme of this week’s Israel Uncensored with Josh Hasten.
