The Pilot Who Said No
Ode, Jan/Feb 2006, pg. 14
This article discusses Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli Black Hawk
helicopter
pilot who wrote a
letter signed by 26 other pilots which created quite a stir. In the letter, Shapira stated he would not take part in any further attacks on civilians. He called such actions “illegal and immoral” claiming it “corrupts Israeli society”. Asked what caused him to take such a strong position, he stated he began to experience doubts about the Israeli Air force policy with the onset of targeted assassinations. He went on to say his stance was cemented when a bomb was dropped on the house of a Hamas leader in a Gaza neighborhood, killing more than a dozen people including nine children.