Protest letters from former Israeli soldiers lay bare profound rifts over the ongoing war

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — 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 the remaining 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.

One month after Netanyahu resumed the war, none of the 59 hostages held by Hamas have been freed or rescued, of whom 24 are believed to still be alive.

In their letters, the protesters have stopped short of refusing to serve. And the vast majority of the 10,000 soldiers who have signed are retired in any case.

Nonetheless, Poran said their decision to identify themselves as ex-pilots was deliberate — given the respect among Israel’s Jewish majority for the military, and especially for fighter pilots and other prestigious units. Tens of thousands of academics, doctors, former ambassadors, students and high-tech workers have signed similar letters of solidarity in recent days, also demanding an end to the war.

“We are aware of the relative importance and the weight of the brand of Israeli Air Force pilots and felt that it is exactly the kind of case where we should use this title in order to influence society,” said Poran.

The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas carried out a surprise cross-border attack, killing about 1,200 people in southern Israel and taking 251 others hostage.

Throughout the war, Netanyahu has set two major goals: destroying Hamas and bringing home the hostages.

Israel’s offensive has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who don't differentiate between civilians and combatants.

While Israel has come under heavy international criticism over the devastation in Gaza, the domestic opposition to the conflict reflects a widespread belief that Netanyahu’s war goals are not realistic.

Nearly 70% of Israelis now say bringing home the hostages is the most important goal of the war, up from just over 50% in January 2024, according to a study conducted by the Jerusalem think tank Israel Democracy Institute. Nearly 60% of respondents said Netanyahu’s two goals cannot be realized together.

The survey interviewed nearly 750 people and had a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.

Netanyahu’s opponents have also accused him of resuming the war to pander to his hardline coalition partners, who have threatened to topple the government if he ends the fighting.

Many people were surprised by the military’s snap decision to dismiss air force reservists who signed the protest letter.

The army, which is mandatory for most Jewish men, has long served as a melting pot and unifying force among Israel’s Jewish majority. Many key units rely heavily on reservists, who often to serve well into their 40s.

In a statement, the military said it should be “above all political dispute.”

As the protest movement has grown, a military official said the army is taking the letters “very seriously.”

He said it joins a list of challenges to calling up reservists and that the army is working to support them. A growing number of reservists have stopped reporting for duty, citing exhaustion, family reasons, and the financial burden of missing work.

“Any civilian can have his opinions. The problems come when people use the army as a tool promoting their opinions, whatever they may be,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under military guidelines.

Eran Duvdevani, who organized a letter signed by 2,500 former paratroopers, told the AP that the army faces a dilemma.

“If it will keep on releasing from service the pilots, what about all the others who signed the letters? Will they be discharged from service as well?” he said.

He said he organized the letter to show “the pilots are not alone.” Their concern over the war’s direction “is a widespread opinion, and you have to take it into consideration.”

Although only a few hundred of the signatories are still actively serving, the Israeli military has been stretched by 18 months of fighting and isn’t in any position to be turning away anyone from reserve duty. Many Israelis are also furious that as reservists repeatedly get called up for action, the government continues to grant military exemptions to Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox governing partners.

The number of Israelis continuing to report for reserve duty has dropped so low that the military has taken to social media to try to recruit people to keep serving.

Eran Halperin, an expert in social psychology at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, called the letters “the most important indication of the erosion of the ethos in this particular war.”

Though the war enjoyed widespread support at the outset, doubts have grown as so many hostages continue to languish in captivity and the Israeli death toll mounts. Nearly 850 soldiers have been killed since the war started.

“It’s very, very difficult to maintain and manage a war in such violent conflict when there are such deep disagreements about the main questions pertaining to the war,” Halperin said.

In recent days, Netanyahu’s office has published a flurry of messages touting meetings with families of the hostages, stressing he is doing everything he can to hasten their return.

On Tuesday, he and his defense minister toured northern Gaza, where Netanyahu praised the “amazing reservists” doing “marvelous work.”

Netanyahu’s office released videos of him marching through the sandy dunes surrounded by dozens of soldiers.

“We are fighting for our existence,” he said. “We are fighting for our future.”

Guy Poran, a former pilot who is one of the initiators of a list of air force personnel calling for the army to focus on releasing the hostages, poses for a portrait in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A view of the Islamic University in Gaza City, partially damaged by an Israeli bombardment and now serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

FILE - People visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, on the one-year anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

People gather in a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A relative of a hostage held in the Gaza Strip pours wine over a table as she takes part in a protest demanding immediate release of the hostages from Hamas captivity, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Mourners carry white sacks covering the bodies of members of the Abu Al-Rous family, killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their displacement tent overnight, during their funeral in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People gather in a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Home ownership is receding further out of reach for most Americans as elevated mortgage rates and rising prices stretch the limits of what buyers can afford.

A homebuyer now needs to earn at least $114,000 a year to afford a $431,250 home -- the national median listing price in April, according to data released Thursday by Realtor.com

The analysis assumes that a homebuyer will make a 20% down payment, finance the rest of the purchase with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, and that the buyer’s housing costs won't exceed 30% of their gross monthly income — an often-used barometer of housing affordability.

Based off the latest U.S. median home listing price, homebuyers need to earn $47,000 more a year to afford a home than they would have just six years ago. Back then, the median U.S. home listing price was $314,950, and the average rate on a 30-year mortgage hovered around 4.1%. This week, the rate averaged 6.76%.

The annual income required to afford a median-priced U.S. home first crossed into the six figures in May 2022 and hasn't dropped below that level since. Median household income was about $80,600 annually in 2023, according to the U.S. Census bureau.

In several metro areas, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston, the annual income needed to afford a median-priced home tops $200,000. In San Jose, it's more than $370,000.

Rock-bottom mortgage rates turbocharged the housing market during the pandemic, fueling bidding wars for homes that pushed up sale prices sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars above a seller initial asking price. U.S. home prices soared more than 50% between 2019 and 2024.

The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from their pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. In March, they posted their largest monthly drop since November 2022.

It's not all bad news for prospective homebuyers.

Home prices are rising much more slowly than during the pandemic housing market frenzy. The national median sales price of a previously occupied U.S. home rose 2.7% in March from a year earlier to $403,700, an all-time high for March, but the smallest annual increase since August.

In April, the median price of a home listed for sale rose only 0.3% from a year earlier, according to Realtor.com.

Buyers who can afford current mortgage rates have a wider selection of properties now than a year ago.

Active listings — a tally that encompasses all homes on the market except those pending a finalized sale — surged 30.6% last month from a year earlier, according to Realtor.com. Home listings jumped between 67.6% and 70.1% in San Diego, San Jose and Washington D.C.

As properties take longer to sell, more sellers are reducing their asking price. Some 18% of listings had their price reduced last month, according to Realtor.com.

“Sellers are becoming more flexible on pricing, underscored by the price reductions we’re seeing, and while higher mortgage rates are certainly weighing on demand, the silver lining is that the market is starting to rebalance,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. "This could create opportunities for buyers who are prepared.”

FILE - A sign announcing a home for sale is posted outside a home, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in Aceworth, Ga., near Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

FILE - A housing development in Cranberry Township, Pa., is shown on March 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)