In the past few days more than 7,000 regular and reserve soldiers signed a petition stating that they do not condition their military service on anything. "We are Zionists, we love Israel and serve in active regular or reserve duty service in the IDF. We do not condition our military service on anything," the petition was signed. They added: "We will serve our country under any government, from the Right to the Left, regardless of our political opinions, in the past, present or future, and whenever we are called to report for duty. The army can always count on us to report for service unconditionally." The petition comes following the recent wave of letters responding to the publication of the pilots' letter last week. Related articles: 'IDF won't allow disagreements to infiltrate its ranks' Threat of service refusal returns to Air Force Lt. Col. who signed refusal letter dismissed from reserve duty Chief Reserve Officer: "Everyone will come to serve" Lt. Col. (res.) Aviv Eitani, a former combat pilot, sharply criticized the letter: "The letter took me back two years. These are people who are not relevant any more and their rights are similar to those of any one else. The fact that they were officers or pilots does not make them better than anyone else today. Ninety percent of the people on the list are inactive soldiers, older people, who haven't been flying for twenty years." "It's okay to give advice from afar, but to come with demands? Many of the people I know are much older than me and I have not been flying for three years. I’m 63. Things must be put in proportion," Eitani said in an interview with i24news . He added, "I'm also a former combat pilot, so what? Unfortunately, this is the same situation as that which existed before October 7th. The massacre proved that service refusal was a tool that was used for political motives and is now being used again. I think we should give it as little public attention as possible."
