Brothers and Sisters in Arms (), also known as Achim Laneshek and Brothers in Arms (), is an organization of reserve men and women from various units of the IDF, operating within the protest movement against the judicial reforms promoted by the thirty-seventh government of Israel headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On October 7, 2023, the day Hamas invaded southern Israel, the organization suspended all political and protest activities and began devoting itself full-time to aid and relief under the name Brothers and Sisters for Israel.
In mid-2024, the organization resumed its protest activities across the country, calling for new elections and the Haredi conscription, currently exempt from military service in the IDF.
In June 2024, the Brothers and Sisters in Arms received The Presidential Award for Volunteerism (formerly the “Presidential Award for Volunteers”) from the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog.
Formation The organization was founded in January 2023 by reserve Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Scherf, reserve Sergeant-Major Eyal Naveh, and reserve Sergeant-Major Eitan Herzel, former members of the Sayeret Matkal IDF unit, following a speech by Justice Minister Yariv Levin in which he announced the judicial reforms planned by the government. Members of Brothers and Sisters in Arms, together with many other Israelis, recognized that these measures would cause severe harm to democracy in Israel.
From the beginning, the goals of the organization were to prevent these measures and strengthen Israeli democracy. The organization operated in various ways, including demonstrations in front of the homes of ministers and members of the Knesset, "vigils" that included discussion positions, advocacy in Israel and abroad, and disruption and protest actions such as hanging giant anti-judicial reform signs on cliffs, blocking roads and blocking entry to the offices or websites of organizations regarded as being responsible for the government program (such as the Kohelet Policy Forum) or symbolize areas of life that are expected to be severely affected as a result (such as the Ministry of Defense and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange). Another central activity was the signing of statements by reservists that they would cease volunteering for service until the planned legislative measures are stopped. The organization's operations are funded through donations from the public as well as the sale of branded equipment of the organization (shirts and hats).
The organization operates on several levels: A steering committee of seven people, each of whom is responsible for one area (strategy, operations, foreign relations, communications, intelligence, etc.). Beneath them, the staff that carries out the tasks, the administrative headquarters, several departments, and about 300 people. In addition, there are tens of thousands of members in the organization's WhatsApp groups who receive updates from the organization. Some of the activities are secret, while others are open to the general public. All the activity is voluntary. The organization's methods of operation are military-based and include, for example, compartmentalization and incident investigation. Most of the members of the executive committee come from the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal, but the organization includes veterans of various military units.
The organization began in a WhatsApp group that Eitan Herzel started with some members of Sayeret Matkal and gained momentum in a three-day march, which began on February 8, 2023, from Latrun to the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, which the initiators defined as a journey to preserve democracy in Israel. The march was joined by veterans of combat units and senior officials in the defense community. As the days went by, the number of participants grew from about 1,000 people on the first day to about 2,500 on the second and about 10,000 on the third. Like other activities of the organization, non-reservist citizens who support the goals of the organization and its actions, joined the march.
On March 28, 2024, the leaders of the organization declared that they were suspending the protest following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that the government had decided to delay further action on the legislation in order to try and reach a negotiated agreement but that they would be "one minute away" from calling for a resumption of the protests if the negotiations failed. During this period, the activists continued to participate in dialogue activities and hold regular demonstrations. Shortly after the suspension, the organization returned to full protest activity after members of the government explicitly declared that they are continuing to promote the judicial reform.
Activities Protest and disruption actions
The organization's activists operate demonstration centers, some of them permanent, in front of the homes of ministers and key Knesset members including Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Minister of Agriculture Avi Dichter, Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat, Member of Knesset and Knesset National Security Committee Chairman Zvika Fogel, and Minister of Immigration and Absorption (formerly Ministry of Aliyah and Integration) Ofir Sofer. They also take part in major demonstrations throughout the country, Including reinforcing protest points where demonstrators have experienced violence from the supporters of the judicial reform. Furthermore, various protest and disruption actions have been conducted, some of which are detailed below:
Blocking Highway 1 in the Sha'ar HaGai area and establishing a symbolic border crossing between democracy and dictatorship, as part of the protest organizations' "Day of Disruption" on March 1, 2023. Blocking the entrance to the offices of Kohelet Policy Forum, an association that has a dominant influence on the advancement of the government's legislative measures, using barbed wire and sandbags, as part of a "day of disruption" on March 9, 2023. The leaders of the organization said that they are "sealing the rift that divisiveness creates in the nation. Everyone has already understood that divisiveness harms the state's economy and the security of the state". Six activists were arrested during the activity, including Ron Scherf, one of the founders of the organization. On the same day, dozens of the organization's activists, including former navy commanders Ami Ayalon and David Ben-Besht, blocked the port of Haifa with flares and boats, for about two hours, under the title "There is no freedom of movement in a dictatorship". The establishment of a symbolic recruitment office in front of the Bnei Brak municipality in a call for equality in burden (of military service), as part of a "day of disruption" on March 16, 2023. On the same day, the organization's activists hung a 200-meter sign at the Eliakim junction "The dictatorship is tearing the people apart". The arrival of a group of activists from the sea, in kayaks and swimming, at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Caesarea on March 17, with the aim of conveying to him the message that he must intervene and "stop the coup". On June 11, hundreds of activists protested in front of the daycare center in Caesarea with a display that included a 15-meter-high tree, a ladder, and a huge dismissal letter, under the title "Bibi Get Down from the Tree!" calling for the dismissal of the Minister of Justice Yariv Levin. Hanging a 600-meter sign on the sides of Highway 1, showing Gallant, Dichter, and Barkat as the famous sculpture in the form of the three monkeys, on March 19. On March 23, the organization's signage campaign went up throughout the country "Your finger will lead to a civil war" targeting the ten Knesset members from the Likud who did not express a firm position against the legislative measures.
Demonstration by hundreds of activists outside the Israel Museum at the conference held on March 22. The speeches of government ministers Yitzhak Goldknopf and Miri Regev were interrupted and Netanyahu canceled his arrival at the conference. Demonstration of hundreds of protesters outside the Religious Zionist Party's cup-raising event in Petah Tikva, held in the presence of the Chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Simcha Rothman, on March 24 as part of "National Paralysis Day". Levin's car was hit by protesters. Several protesters were arrested. A demonstration at the entrance of the Kiryat Arba settlement, where the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir lives, and a call for him to resign from his position, under the slogan "It's simply too much for you", on March 26. According to them, "it is not given to someone who was not drafted into the IDF because of his extreme positions and violent past to wreak havoc in the State of Israel and endanger the security of the state". On April 14, two huge signs were hung on the roads of the country, referring to the minister and criticizing him for his conduct in the face of the wave of terrorism. Another demonstration was held on May 4 in front of Ben-Gvir's house in Kiryat Arba. A display was set up dealing with the murders in Arab community and the murder of women and a sign was hung that read "3 months, 78 murdered - one guilty!" On the day of the budget approval in the Knesset, May 23, activists hung signs against the minister on the way to the Knesset: "Ben-Gvir zero abilities in the budget", "Ben-Gvir zero abilities in front of Smotrich", "Ben-Gvir zero concern for the police". A demonstration during the speech of the Chairman of the Constitution Committee Simcha Rothman, as part of the conference of the Jewish Federations of North America, which was held at the exhibition grounds in Tel-Aviv on April 24. On the 75th Independence Day of the State of Israel on April 26, the activists of the organization hung a sign with the inscription "Democracy" on a cliff in Masada and the Israeli flag and the Declaration of Independence in Nahal Qumran. The activists said that "Masada will not fall a second time and Israeli democracy will never fall. Long live the State of Israel". In addition, activists from the navy held a flotilla along the coast of Tel Aviv in about 150 yachts and a small plane carried the sign "Free in our country". The inscription "Israel democratic since 1948" was written on the pumping station building at Sha'ar HaGai. Also, Israeli flags were hung near the houses of the Knesset members of United Torah Judaism in Bnei Brak. A demonstration of support with the participation of hundreds of the organization's activists outside the home of former Supreme Court judge Aharon Barak, in front of about 50 demonstrators supporting the legislative measures, on April 30. As part of the National Equality Day, on May 4, demonstrations were held against the non-conscription of yeshiva members near the home of Rabbi Gershon Edelstein and a symbolic "recruitment office" was opened in front of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, calling for the ultra-Orthodox to sign a new contract with the state and take part in the burden of service. For example, a morning prayer was held in collaboration with the "Religious, Zionist, Democrat" protest organization in front of the home of Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Kedumim with the chant "True religious Zionism carries the burden, does not perpetuate the state". In addition, there was a support demonstration of hundreds of people in front of the house of retired Chief Justice Aharon Barak, in front of a counter-demonstration of hundreds of supporters of the legislation.