37 of 40 reserve pilots in fighter jet squadron refuse to train over judicial shakeup

Nearly all reservist members of an Israeli Air Force fighter jet squadron on Sunday said they would not show up to one of their planned training session later this week, in protest of the government’s plan to radically restrict the power of the country’s judiciary.

Out of the 40 reservists in the IAF’s 69th Squadron, 37 said they were boycotting the Wednesday exercises. Their announcement was first published by the Haaretz daily.

The squadron — known as the Hammers — operates the F-15I fighter jets out of the Hatzerim Airbase in southern Israel.