Referring to the reservists and active duty personnel who have protested against the conservative government, left-wing journalist Yossi Melman acknowledged that “a military coup is underway in Israel,” saying that the media “attempt to play with words in order to avoid looking the reality in the eye.”In truth, “The rebels and their supporters are employing euphemisms and resorting to linguistic acrobatics rather than stating unequivocally that there is insubordination among many Israel Defense Forces reservists. They refer to it instead as ‘ceasing to volunteer’,” Melman writes.
A growing trend of “reservists who avoid service on various other pretexts without labeling it as refusal to serve” must also be taken into account, Melman writes. “Furthermore, the number of junior and mid-level officers – lieutenants, captains, majors and even lieutenant colonels – declining to extend their regular military service is also on the rise. This trend is of serious concern to the IDF Manpower Directorate, to the General Staff and the IDF chief of staff himself.”
“It’s more comfortable for all involved not to explicitly use the phrase ‘military coup,’ but if the issue is to be effectively addressed, the reality must be faced head-on and called by its rightful name,” the leftist insurrections states baldly.