Refusal to serve in the Israeli military

"The pilots' letter," published on September 24, 2003, was signed by 27 reserve and active duty pilots.[8] One of the signatories was the famous pilot Brigadier General (res.) Yiftah Spector.

The letter was precipitated by the targeted killing of Salah Shehade, leader of Hamas's militant wing, who was killed by a one ton bomb dropped on his residential building along with 14 others.

Pilots decried the large number of civilian casualties caused by Israel's targeted killings as violating the military's ethics code.

In their letter, the pilots stated:

We, veteran and active pilots alike, who served and still serve the state of Israel for long weeks every year, are opposed to carrying out attack orders that are illegal and immoral of the type the state of Israel has been conducting in the territories.

We, who were raised to love the state of Israel and contribute to the Zionist enterprise, refuse to take part in Air Force attacks on civilian population centers.

We, for whom the Israel Defense Forces and the Air Force are an inalienable part of ourselves, refuse to continue to harm innocent civilians.

These actions are illegal and immoral, and are a direct result of the ongoing occupation which is corrupting all of Israeli society.

Perpetuation of the occupation is fatally harming the security of the state of Israel and its moral strength.

The signatories clarified that they do not reject military service in the IDF, only targeted killings of individuals