Among the numerous mass protests against the Israeli government’s controversial legislative moves to weaken Israel’s judicial system, the most influential effort has come from reservists in the country’s elite military units threatening to refuse to report for duty.

One of the reservists, Yiftach Golov, tells Haaretz Weekly host Allison Kaplan Sommer that he and his comrades in the group Brothers and Sisters in Arms – who are visibly on the front lines of the protest movement – are determined to do all they can to fight what he calls Benjamin Netanyahu’s “government of destruction.”

“We haven’t even moved our queen yet in this chess game,” Golov warns. “The fact that we are threatening not to volunteer in Israel’s elite special units is only the beginning. We have much more ammunition in our arsenal.”

Golov rejects critics in the government camp who say the defense of the country shouldn’t be put at risk for political goals. As a soldier, he says, he vowed to fight any force that was putting the survival of the country at risk – even when the threat isn’t an external one. “It’s a crazy situation, but right now, our enemy comes from within. ... I feel that I’m serving my country for exactly the same values” as on the battlefield.

Also on the podcast, Haaretz defense analyst Amos Harel talks about the reservists’ actions, and their impact on the government’s behavior.

Harel says Netanyahu is “extremely concerned” about the reservists’ actions – particularly those of its elite fighter pilots, who are vital to the Israel Defense Forces’ combat readiness in case of attack, and the coalition is struggling with its response to a phenomenon that he says is “getting bigger” by the day.

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