Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

I know that there were extensive protests in Israel over Benyamin Netanyahu's attempt to subvert the courts in order to prevent his being jailed for corruption, but I did not realize just how serious they were until I read that Israel Air Force reserve pilots are refusing to train in protest of his actions.

This is something that I have never, ever, heard of in Israel before.

I do want to stress that these are reservists, and not active duty pilots, but to a greater degree than almost any other military in the world, the IDF relies on reservists: 

Reservist members of an Israel Air Force fighter jet squadron said Tuesday that they will show up this week to their base as ordered, but only for conversations with their commanders, after sparking widespread consternation by announcing they would not attend training in protest of the government.

The pilots are the most prominent of a wave of reserves soldiers saying they will refuse to show up for service or training to express their objections to the coalition’s judicial overhaul plan as well as a recent settler rampage through a West Bank Palestinian town.

“We are responding to the call of our commanders and will report to the unit tomorrow for a dialogue with the soldiers. We have full confidence in our commanders, and we will continue to serve the Jewish and democratic State of Israel as long as it is required,” the pilots said in a statement.

Out of the 40 reservists in the IAF’s 69th Squadron, 37 said on Sunday they were boycotting the Wednesday session. The squadron — known as the Hammers — operates the F-15I fighter jet out of the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel.

The pilots had said in their initial statement on Sunday they would “devote our time to discourse and thinking for the sake of democracy and the unity of the people,” instead of showing up for the exercise.

Reservist pilots train frequently and missing multiple sessions could impact competency.

Over the last two weeks, a growing list of units in the Israel Defense Forces, including some of the most elite, have seen members threaten to not show up amid widescale opposition to the government’s plans that critics say will harm Israel’s democracy, economy, and security.

Seriously, this is big.  I don't know exactly how big, or what this will lead to, but this a very big deal.