Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to rescind leading anti-government activist Sgt. Maj. (res.) Eyal Naveh’s call-up for reserve duty, the Defense Ministry announced on Sunday.
Naveh, one of the founders of the Brothers in Arms protest group, “is unworthy of training the next generation of IDF fighters,” Katz explained in the statement, adding that “the same law must apply to everyone.”
In response, Naveh—a member of the IDF’s prestigious General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (“Sayeret Matkal”)—accused the defense minister of “trying to tear apart the army,” Maariv reported.
Brothers in Arms was founded in 2023 as a protest group against the judicial-reform push of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. After Netanyahu shelved the plans in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion of the western Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, the group returned to the streets, demanding the premier’s resignation.
Brothers in Arms has been widely criticized for encouraging reservists not to report for duty. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “anyone calling not to show up for service harms the IDF and the security of the state.”
About a month ago, the IDF froze the reserve service of Brothers in Arms co-founder Lt. Col. (res.) Ron Scherf, also a member of Sayeret Matkal. At the same time, it suspended Col. (res.) Hezi Nechama, who had criticized what he called the lack of a strategic victory in Gaza.
Israeli lawmaker Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit Party) last month asked Justice Minister Yariv Levin to outlaw Brothers in Arms after it became clear that one of the suspects in the Nov. 16 flare-throwing at Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea belonged to the organization.
In his letter to Levin, Cohen characterized Brothers in Arms as “nothing more than a violent militia established to prevent the judicial reform by any means necessary.” He accused the organization of engaging in illegal actions, including encouraging active refusal of IDF service.
