Israeli Air Force Answers Pilots' Complaint About 'Pinpoint' Attacks
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The Israeli Air Force found itself in the uncomfortable position Thursday of having to defend its actions in the Palestinian Authority areas - but not against complaints from the international community. Rather, the complaints came from 27 Israeli pilots.The pilots, most of whom are reservists and some of whom are now too old to fly, sent a letter to Air Force Commander Dan Halutz and the press saying they were "opposed to carrying out illegal and immoral orders to attack, of the type Israel carries out in the territories."
For more than two years now, Israel has carried out what it calls "pinpoint" operations using combat helicopters or on occasion F-16s to fire missiles or drop bombs on terrorists, who they consider to be "ticking bombs" - in the advanced stages of planning or on the way to carry out terror attacks.
Palestinian civilians have sometimes been killed and wounded in these operations but Israel has insisted that the missions are carried out with the utmost concern for innocent lives and that the use of such methods in fighting terrorism is a last resort.
Initially, the international community condemned such operations, but the worldwide opposition over targeted killings has quieted down somewhat in the face of the many terror attacks against Israel.
Brigadier-General Ido Nehushtan, head of the Air Division of the Israeli Air Force, defended the Air Force actions in its fight against terrorism and noted that only a few pilots were making the protest.
"This is a marginal number of pilots," Nehushtan said. "The vast majority of pilots are committed to missions, day and night, doing their best to carry out missions [against those] who carry out vicious terror attacks...
"We're fighting a difficult, new type of war [where the] ideology [is] vicious," he said.
They don't have military camps and tanks away from civilians, he said. They "deliberately operate within heavily populated areas because they know the moral dilemma [Israel is facing]," he said. While on the other hand, "they are after our women and children."
Nehushtan left little doubt he believes the complaint from the pilots was politically motivated. "We heard about it from the media," Nehushtan told CNSNews.com . "The Air Force commander had a letter a few minutes before saying they were going to release this."
Twenty-seven pilots signed the letter. Most of them are inactive in the reserves and at least one has not flown for 30 years. Only one or two of them could possibly find themselves in a position to carry out such an attack and none of them has ever participated in or objected to carrying out such a mission, Nehushtan said.
"They wanted to make a statement," he said.
Contrary to the impression given by the pilots, Nehushtan said, the Air Force actually encourages the pilots to express their thoughts about the missions to which they are assigned.
"In the Air Force people are encouraged to [discuss] their difficulties, dilemmas. They have a sensitive position to carry out attacks," he said.
Even in the course of a mission, he said, the pilots are expected to make judgments about the situation on the ground and hold off on the mission if they believe it will result in harm to civilians. They are being asked to obey non-legitimate commands, he added.
According to the letter, the pilots said the Israeli Air Force was an integral part of their lives but they added that they "refuse to continue to hit innocent civilians...
"The continued occupation is critically harming the country's security" and morality, the letter also stated.
The issue of West Bank and Gaza Strip "occupation" is a political hot potato.
Speaking for the group of pilots, Captain Yonatan was quoted as saying that after "deep thought and much soul-searching" he and the others had "decided to ... obey the order that obliges us not to carry out an order that is blatantly illegal."
Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon described the complaint as not "legitimate" and called it "a political statement made in army uniforms.""
Air Force Commander Halutz said the complaint should be kept in perspective since it came from 27 pilots out of the thousands attached to the Israeli military. He was also quoted as saying that "There is no corps and army more humane and moral than us."
Former Air Force Commander and Israeli President Ezer Weizmann, called the complaint "very grave" and said it was like a "cancer" that needed to be removed immediately.
Nehushtan said unlike the public nature of their complaint, the pilots would be dealt with in a direct, private and individual manner by the Air Force.
Nine of the pilots on active duty have been grounded, media reports said on Thursday. A report in Ha'aretz said that if and when the pilots are privately confronted, they will either retract their statements or be dismissed from active service.