More than 150 ex-navy officers and dozens of reservist doctors signed their names to letters published Thursday demanding an immediate end to the war in Gaza for the sake of the swift return of the hostages.
The letters came on the heels of a similar public statement by nearly 1,000 veterans of the Israeli Air Force, including 60 active reservists, which has been condemned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. Some 60 of the signatories are active IAF reservists and are expected to be dismissed.
None of the letters called on reservists to refuse to serve.
The letter (Hebrew) by retired naval officers —addressed to the prime minister, the defense minister, members of the government, the Knesset, the IDF chain of command, and the Israeli public — accused the government of prioritizing “political and personal interests, and not security interests.”
“59 hostages are still in Hamas’s tunnels, and the country is moving further and further away from its obligation to free them,” the officers wrote.
They criticized the government’s conduct, claiming it “undermines the foundations of statesmanship, erodes public trust, and raises serious concerns that security decisions are being dictated by illegitimate considerations.”
“The resumption of fighting distances the release of the hostages, endangers soldiers, and harms innocent civilians,” they wrote.
The former navy officers’ letter also referenced the ultra-Orthodox draft exemption, writing: “The government is advancing a discriminatory policy: sectoral budgets and sweeping exemptions from military service. Those who serve feel betrayed.”
It concluded with a message to the government: “We carry the burden. The responsibility is yours.”
In addition, dozens of reservist doctors signed a separate letter demanding an immediate stop to the fighting in Gaza for the sake of returning the hostages.
The letter, which was reported by the Ynet news site, was addressed to Defense Minister Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Chief Medical Officer Brig. Gen. Zivan Aviad-Beer.
“We, reservist doctors from different units in the IDF, demand the return of the hostages without delay and a cessation of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” it read.
The doctors wrote that on October 7, they proudly stood up to defend the country, but that “at this time, after 550 days of fighting that has already taken a heavy toll on the State of Israel, we feel, painfully, that the continuation of the fighting in Gaza is primarily intended to serve political and personal interests, without a security purpose.”
Continuing the fighting, at this point, “only endangers the lives of IDF soldiers and the lives of our hostage citizens — as evidenced by the fact that 40 hostages have been murdered or killed over the course of the ground campaign,” they contended.
“The continuation of the fighting and the abandonment of the hostages, like abandoning wounded [soldiers] on the battlefield, irreversibly erodes the values of the sanctity of life and the commitment to the security of the state and those who live in it.
“We call on the Israeli leadership to come to their senses and to operate in accordance with the values of the State of Israel and the IDF Code of Ethics,” they wrote.