Brothers and Sisters in Arms

Brothers and Sisters in Arms, known in Hebrew as Achim LaNeshek or Achim BaNeshek, began as a reservist movement opposing the government’s proposed judicial overhaul.[1][2] Its work combined public protest and pressure concerning voluntary reserve service, then expanded after October 7 into emergency relief. In January 2024, the Civil Emergency HQ became a legally separate humanitarian entity, while the protest organization adopted the name Brothers and Sisters in Arms – For Democracy.[3]

Brothers and Sisters in Arms was founded in January 2023 by Eyal Naveh, Ron Sharf, and Eitan Herzl to oppose legislation advanced as part of the government’s judicial overhaul.[4] The movement was founded by IDF reservists.[2] It was registered as an association in June 2023.[3]

Its registered principal aim was to promote individual contribution and volunteering for Israeli society through civilian or military service. The stated purpose emphasized mutual responsibility among people regardless of religion, race, sex, or political affiliation.[3] A Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion account separately identifies Ronen Keller as a founder of Achim BaNeshek and describes the organization as established by former military officers.[1]

The organization’s first public event under its name was a reservists’ march in February 2023. More than 1,000 reservists took part in a 50-kilometer route from Latrun to Jerusalem, ending at a rally outside the Supreme Court. Participants included reservists from several military branches and units, as well as former senior security figures.[3][5] A separate report said the group began as a WhatsApp group among Sayeret Matkal friends and had grown to 10,000 by the time marchers arrived; that figure differs from the report of more than 1,000 march participants.[6]

The group became a prominent part of the 2023 protests against proposed judicial changes. Its leaders framed the legislation as a threat to democratic principles and the IDF’s ethos. In July, the organization announced that about 10,000 reservists had said they would not report for service if the legislation were completed. That announcement was conditional and was not an independently verified count of reservists who actually stopped serving.[7]

At an event near IDF headquarters, thousands of reservists were expected to sign a letter saying they would not report if a bill concerning the reasonableness standard passed. Participants said the bill would “trample the values of the Declaration of Independence and contradict the spirit of the IDF”; co-leader Eyal Naveh called dictatorship “our redline.” The military said it remained fully ready for war, warned that calls to refuse service harmed the IDF, and said any effect would depend on reservists’ roles and replaceability.[8]

At a March press conference in Herzliya, organizers warned that passage of the proposed legislation risked disintegration of the IDF and said thousands would stop volunteering for reserve service. They said they were preparing to “escalate the struggle.” A report also cited Israeli media estimates that as many as 750 reservists had refused or failed to report in recent days, including personnel from special forces, the Air Force, and offensive cyber units.[9]

The group’s activities unfolded within a much broader protest movement. INSS counted 1,816 demonstrations in about 200 locations between the initiative’s announcement and September 2023. Police figures cited by INSS put participation above seven million, while the protest movement claimed more than ten million; those totals refer to the broader movement, not Brothers and Sisters in Arms alone.[10]

After the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, the group suspended its protests and turned its networks and organizational capacity toward emergency assistance.[11] Eyal Naveh said that by noon that day the group understood that its protest was over and that its task was to help the IDF and families from communities near the Gaza border. It established an emergency command center, with an early forward situation room at Beit Kama Junction, and reported evacuating more than 2,500 families from the south.[4]

The wider Civil Emergency HQ, also called Brothers and Sisters for Israel, brought together Brothers in Arms with other groups, including Alternative Builders and the High-Tech Operations Room. A report described a network of more than 15,000 volunteers that cooperated with the Ministry of Defense, the military, police, and local authorities. Its services included support for evacuees, essential goods, mental-health assistance, help accessing rights, and transport, food, and protective equipment for soldiers. During the first two weeks, it also hosted the country’s main missing-persons hotline, staffed by 400 volunteers and using AI-assisted tools.[12]

At the beginning of the emergency, activists received messages from people under attack, including from Kfar Aza. They began coordinating from home, then established a situation room at Beit Kama; by 11 a.m. they were dispatching volunteers, some unarmed, to help rescue people under terrorist siege. The situation room was still operating when the report appeared. Eyal Naveh’s response to what people could do was: “Come and volunteer.”[13]

The combined Expo Tel Aviv hub coordinated transport, accommodation, food, medical supplies, psychological support, children’s activities, and assistance for bereaved families. Reported early-operation figures for the wider hub included 3,000 people evacuated from Gaza-border communities, including 200 under fire; accommodation found for nearly 8,000 displaced families; and transport for 8,000 civilians and soldiers. The hub also distributed 120,000 food portions and provided more than 1,000 activities for evacuated children. These totals describe the shared operation, not the group alone.[13]

A team of approximately 2,000 high-tech volunteers helped identify missing and abducted Israelis by reviewing video and social-media material with facial-recognition and other tools. The team identified hundreds of people who were missing or dead, and its software and work were later transferred to state institutions as they began functioning.[13] Separately, CTech reported that Brothers in Arms conducted 2,000 rescues during the first days of fighting, in coordination with the army, including rescues under fire and assistance to people unable to evacuate on their own.[12]

The organization also addressed shortages in agricultural labor through a project later called “Brothers in Farms.” Within days, organizers were sending hundreds of volunteers each day to about 60 farms in southern Israel. More than 30,000 volunteers had gone south through the project by the time of the report, with 4,000 to 5,000 volunteers participating each week. The work was coordinated with the army, and volunteers were assigned according to need and access restrictions.[11]

Reporting on longer-term assistance described 190 hotel-based kindergartens, a kindergarten and school for 500 children evacuated from Kiryat Shmona, and help furnishing a school at Kibbutz Gvulot. The organization also assisted returning residents in coordination with local authorities and supported reservists’ families with practical tasks such as babysitting and dog-walking.[14]

In April 2024, co-founder Ronen Koehler said the group intended to remain active in civic life, including education, community, economic, and employment issues. He described its post-protest approach as “softer”: it continued to hold gatherings and display banners but no longer blocked roads. He also said it supported early elections and sought a cross-party agreement on drafting ultra-Orthodox young men into the IDF.[14]

The Jewish Agency’s 2024 impact report listed Brothers and Sisters in Arms among partners in a business grants-and-loans program. The agency reported providing more than $80 million through the program with several partners and others, but did not specify the group’s individual contribution or identify it as the sole operator.[15]

The group’s names and institutional arrangements changed after October 7. The humanitarian work was reported under the name Brothers and Sisters for Israel, while Brothers and Sisters in Arms – For Democracy was associated with renewed political activity. Reporting described the related organizations as connected through personnel, infrastructure, or activity, while also noting representatives’ statements that humanitarian donations were used for relief rather than rallies or protests.[2]

On January 2, 2024, the Civil Emergency HQ separated structurally and legally from Brothers and Sisters in Arms, adopted the name Brothers and Sisters for Israel – Civil Emergency HQ, and changed its objectives. It described itself thereafter as a separate entity focused on social, logistical, and educational projects; the protest organization also changed its name to Brothers and Sisters in Arms – For Democracy.[3]

A similarly worded Hebrew name can refer to a different organization. An INSS publication describes an organization called אחים לנשק, established in winter 2017, that campaigned against women serving in combat roles. It is distinct from the group associated with the 2023 judicial-overhaul protests.[16]

The movement’s significance came from its use of reservist identity and protest-era organizing networks in two different arenas: mass opposition to the judicial overhaul and rapid civilian mobilization after October 7. HUC-JIR described it as a major organizer of the pro-democracy protest movement and reported that it later mobilized thousands for rescue, relief, education, and psychological support.[1]

Its reserve-service campaign also made it a focal point in debate over the relationship between military volunteering, democratic protest, and national readiness. The group described suspension of voluntary service as conditional pressure against the legislation, while the IDF warned that calls to refuse service harmed the military even as it said it remained ready for war.[7][8]

The group’s campaign concerning voluntary reserve service became a major point of dispute. Critics later alleged that the campaign harmed IDF readiness before October 7. Movement leaders Michal Beinisch and Omri Ronen rejected a connection; Ronen said people in his circle reported for duty immediately on October 7, while Beinisch said the protest concerned democratic limits, not unwillingness to serve. The cited interview records the competing positions but does not establish a definitive causal finding.[17]

The organization’s opposition to the judicial changes and to exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews also placed it in a polarized political debate. A report described political attacks on the protest groups, including their characterization by the prime minister, ministers, and much of the political right as “leftist traitors”; it also recounted cooperation between group members and Orthodox Israelis in relief work after the attack.[13][14]

Other disputes concerned the relationship between the movement’s political and humanitarian entities, including questions raised about fundraising timing and legal arrangements. The reporting also records representatives’ responses that donations for relief were spent on humanitarian programs rather than political activity.[2]