Comment: The West's plan to isolate Russia isn't exactly going as expected.

Comment: Minorities unprotected? In Israel? Any more than they already are?!

Critics are saying much more than that - they argue that this 'reform' gives Netanyahu 'dictatorial' powers.

The BBC reports:

Israel's elite fighter pilots escalate judicial reform protest

Fighter pilots in an elite Israeli Air Force squadron have vowed not to attend training, in an unprecedented protest against the government.

Nearly all of the 40 reservist pilots from 69th Squadron have refused to join a one-day training exercise this week.

It is seen as an unparalleled political move by some of Israel's most strategically important reservists.

One unnamed pilot told the Ynet news website that the squadron was "signalling that we won't be prepared to serve a dictatorial regime".

Meanwhile, the national airline El Al said it had found a crew to fly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife to Italy for a planned state visit this week, following media reports its pilots had refused to fly the couple as part of the protests.

And in a further sign of growing concern among Israel's military leadership, 10 former Israeli Air Force chiefs published an open letter calling on Mr Netanyahu to "stop and find a solution" to the crisis, given the level of protest among pilots and aircrews.

"We are fearful over the consequences of these processes and the serious and tangible danger posed to the national security of the State of Israel," the letter said.

It follows an announcement last week by reservists in the elite 8200 intelligence unit, who also said they would not turn up for aspects of their reserve duty.

Israel's reservists are a key component of its military forces, often carrying out frontline roles, and in the case of the air force, regularly involved in active combat operations.

Over the weekend Mr Netanyahu responded, tweeting a black-and-white picture of his military ID from when was conscripted in 1967.

"When we're called for reserve duty, we always turn up. We are one nation," he wrote.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also called for reservists to turn up for duty.

"Any call for refusal harms the functioning of the IDF and its ability to carry out its tasks," he said.

Anti-government protests have continued to grow since Mr Netanyahu returned to power at the end of last year, leading the most right-wing, nationalist coalition in Israel's history and promising radical changes to Israel's legal system.

They include new laws which would give the government full control over nominating judges and would ultimately strip the Supreme Court of crucial powers to strike down legislation.

Most legal scholars say the reforms would effectively destroy the independence of the judiciary, while opposition figures describe the proposals as an attempted "regime coup" by the prime minister and his coalition.

Mr Netanyahu is also on trial for corruption charges, which he denies, and opponents claim the legal reforms could help shield him from conviction.

The proposals have sparked some of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in Israel's history, with an estimated 150,000 people on the streets of Tel Aviv and tens of thousands more in protests elsewhere on Saturday.

The pilot reservists are also reportedly concerned that the new hardline government's conduct could expose them to prosecution by the International Criminal Court, without being able to argue that an independent judiciary in Israel is responsible for ultimately investigating wrongdoing by its forces.

Human rights groups and Palestinian officials, however, have long dismissed Israel's own inquiries into its forces' conduct as a whitewash.

Threatened boycotts by reservists in Israel are not uncommon, but the scale and seniority of those now involved is unprecedented.

The pilots' protest adds to announcements by reservists in almost every combat or intelligence unit in recent weeks threatening not to serve if the government presses ahead with the highly controversial changes.

Army Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi has reportedly spoken to Mr Netanyahu, warning him that the action could harm the military's operational capabilities.

Times of Israel reports:

'You can go to hell,' Likud minister tells IDF reservists protesting judicial overhaul

In a Purim holiday message to his social media followers, Likud Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi uses the opportunity to lambast the growing number of prominent IDF reservists who have threatened not to report for duty if the government continues to advance its plan to radically overhaul the judiciary.

"And Mordechai would not kneel nor bow down" Karhi writes, quoting a text from the Purim story. "There are times when one must stand firm against the hegemony."

© Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90Likud MK Shlomo Karhi speaks during a rally against the government in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2021. (

"To those refusing to serve, we say to them what Mordechai told Esther: 'Profit and salvation will arise for the Jews from another place, and your father's house will be destroyed.'"

"The people of Israel will manage without you and you can go to hell," Karhi writes.

"The [judicial] reform movement will move forward. It was for this movement that we came to power."

Protest movements of various kinds, have been growing in recent years, with those just prior to the lockdowns being some of the largest; notably, the lockdowns helped quell the burgeoning unrest.

This year, however, has already seen protests attended by millions in France, hundreds of thousands in Madrid, along with general strikes across numerous European nations.

And since all signs point to a worsening of conditions across the board, and pretty much everywhere - but especially in the West - it's likely we will see further mass protests in the coming year:

• Thousands of farmers protest in Brussels over nitrogen limits that will cause 'socio-economic carnage'
• Thousands in Slovakia rally against NATO & military aid to Ukraine
• More protests in Germany against new migrant center, follows demonstrations in Ireland, England
• France rocked by protests as 2 MILLION march against government reforms in 2nd wave of mass strikes to hit this month

Comment:

Comment: The West thought Russia was so reliant on Western production that the sanctions would cripple them. They have been proven dead wrong. All they did was give Russia the push to further develop relations with industrial giant China and to develop their own industry. Good job Western elites!

Comment: See also:

Comment: See also:

• US schools becoming a 'cesspool of Marxist indoctrination' - senator
• Project Veritas exposes woke assistant principal bragging about indoctrinating kids, REFUSING to hire Catholic teachers
• Florida's Education Department rejects dozens of math textbooks containing CRT, other 'indoctrinating concepts'
• NJ first-graders to be subjected to gender identity indoctrination in new sex-ed lessons - Governor speaks out against it
• North Carolina dad slams school board over critical race theory and gender indoctrination
• Shocking Project Veritas undercover video reveals Antifa high school teacher admitting to indoctrinating students
• Universities are now more interested in indoctrinating students to accept diversity than in teaching them about their history

Comment: Twitter's reaction: