September 26, 2003	Friday	Rajab 28, 1424

TEL AVIV, Sept 25: A group of Israeli air force pilots, whose refusal to take part in missions inside the Palestinian territories has generated heated debate, faced the threat of dismissal on Thursday.

Twenty-seven reserve pilots submitted the petition to Air Force commander Dan Halutz, saying that they were no longer prepared to take part in missions that they regarded as “illegal and immoral”.

Only nine of the signatories are believed to still be in active service, but Halutz indicated that they would be kicked out if they did not retract their statements.

He told the Haaretz daily that he planned to treat the signatories “in the same way as the IDF has dealt with refuseniks until now”, indicating that they would be dismissed. “This method has proved itself.”

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also warned the pilots not to become embroiled in politics.

“The army carries out the instructions of the political echelon, and it will continue to act against terrorists and murderers whose sole purpose is to strike at crowded population centres inhabited by innocent citizens,” said Mr Sharon.

“This is a very severe matter, which will be dealt with soon and appropriately.”

One of the pilots, whose name was given as Alon, told the Yediot Aharonot daily that he felt like he had “come out against his family”.

“I was proud to belong to the organization called the Israel air force, and today I am ashamed,” said the Blackhawk helicopter captain.

“This is an organization that carries out actions that in my eyes are immoral and patently illegal. It is an organization that has no qualms about dropping bombs — it doesn’t matter if they are 250, 500 or 1,000 kilos — on the densest neighbourhoods in the world, causing massive killing of civilians.”

Another captain, whose name was given only as Yonathan, said: “Does it matter to so many civilians who were killed for no wrongdoing of their own, if the pilot meant to carry out a mission that someone told him is important for the defence of the State of Israel?”

Mr Alon said that he would be prepared to fly missions which carried the possibility of killing civilians if he felt it was vital to the state’s survival.

“This is not the situation in Israel. We are not in a war for our existence,” he said.

“We are in a war for continuing the occupation in the territories. And in light of this dubious goal, I am not willing to be the murderer of innocent civilians.”

Former IAF commander Major General Amos Lapidot said that while the pilots were in a minority their unease was widely shared.

“It’s a minority but it’s not just limited to those 27,” he said. “Others feel this in their stomach.”

But Major General Nati Sharoni, the military’s former head of planning, said that the pilots had no right to air their grievances in such an open way.

“Much of what they say, I can identify with myself but this is not the way to do it,” Mr Sharoni said.

“Anyone who serves in the armed forces, whether active or reserve, cannot, should not, must not say this is something that I am not going to do, even if it’s questionable.

“One has to realize that this is not a democratic organization.”

The pilots should have voiced their misgivings to other officers but could only justify their actions if they were given patently illegal orders such as being instructed “to slaughter kids”.

Yael Paz-Melamed, a columnist for the Maariv daily, said that the writing had been on the wall for a long time.

“In private conversations, more and more pilots voiced their disgruntlement with the assassination missions they were sent on,” he wrote.

“From the F-16 jet, one does not see the white in the victims’ eyes. One cannot hear the outcries, the pain, the wails of the wounded. One does not see the children bleeding to death. But people who do not turn their back on their conscience, know that this is not the reason that they joined the air force.” —AFP