(18 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Aviv, Israel – 16 April 2025
1. People gathering at "Hostages Square"
2. Close of photo of hostage
3. Various of square
4. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Guy Poran, ex-pilot in the Israeli Air Force:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS IN SHOT 1 AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 2-3&5++
“We are aware of the relative importance and weight of the brand Israeli Air Force pilots and thought that it is exactly the kind of case where we should use this title in order to influence the society. The letter is not talking to the army, is not talking to pilots. It’s aimed, and therefore we’re not calling for any refusal or anything that the soldiers should do.”
5. Letter on wall published by pilots reading (Hebrew): “A call for the return of all hostages even in the cost of ending the fighting"
6. Various of names of pilots signing the letter
7.SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Guy Poran, ex-pilot in the Israeli Air Force:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS IN PREVIOUS SHOT++
“It’s crystal clear that the renewal of the war is for political reasons and not for security reasons. It’s very, very clear. The radical ministers have not even tried to hide it. They didn’t do it behind closed doors. They announce it every day. Either he renews the war, or he doesn’t have a government.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rosh Hayin, Israel – 16 April 2025
8. Eran Duvdevani, retired paratrooper and initiator of the paratroopers’ protest letter, at his house
9. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Eran Duvdevani, retired paratrooper:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS IN PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 9++
“This is one of the goals that we set up, to say the pilots are not alone, it’s not only them who thinks this way, it is a widespread opinion and you have to take it into consideration.”
10. Photo of Duvdevani during his army service
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Aviv, Israel – 16 April 2025
11. Tunnel replica in the ‘Hostages’ Square’ to symbolize conditions in which hostages are being held in Gaza
12. Various of people walking through tunnel replica
STORYLINE:
When nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force veterans signed an open letter last week calling for an end to the war in Gaza, the military responded immediately, saying it would dismiss any active reservist who signed the document.
But in the days since, thousands of retired and reservist soldiers across the military have signed similar letters of support.
The growing campaign, which accuses the government of perpetuating the war for political reasons and failing to bring home hostages, has laid bare the deep division and disillusionment over Israel’s fighting in Gaza.
By spilling over into the military, it has threatened national unity and raised questions about the army’s ability to continue fighting at full force.
It also resembles the bitter divisions that erupted in early 2023 over the government’s attempts to overhaul Israel’s legal system, which many say weakened the country and encouraged Hamas’ attack later that year that triggered the war.
“It’s crystal clear that the renewal of the war is for political reasons and not for security reasons,” Guy Poran, a retired pilot who was one of the initiators of the air force letter, told The Associated Press.
The catalyst for the letters was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision on March 18 to return to war instead of sticking to a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of some hostages.
Netanyahu says the military pressure is needed to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages. Critics, including many families of the hostages, fear that it will get them killed.
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