A Channel 14 report says Omri Ronen, a former Brothers in Arms activist and current candidate for The Democrats party, gave paid lectures to IDF soldiers and officers over the past year. The disclosure raised questions because Ronen had taken part in a July 2023 Brothers in Arms conference linked to calls not to report for reserve duty during the judicial overhaul protests.
The report recalled that at that pre October 7 event, organizers said about 10,000 fighters from units including Golani and Givati would stop volunteering for reserve service, a move they described as ending reserve volunteering. Ronen was among those who appeared at the conference, according to the report.
Channel 14 said it was publishing that, “in the irony of ironies,” the same Ronen had recently spoken in the IDF “on several occasions” for payment before officers and soldiers. The IDF spokesperson had not responded at the time of publication.
Ronen, speaking for The Democrats, said he was proud to meet soldiers and commanders and tell the story of his grandmother, Nira, who was murdered on October 7 along with her caregiver Angie. He said that since the start of the war he has served hundreds of reserve days in Gaza and Lebanon alongside fighters and commanders from across Israeli society, and that his talks focus on his grandparents’ life work, “pioneering, settlement, building and rebirth” in the western Negev, not politics. He added that he will continue serving in reserves and, “after the primaries,” from the Knesset as well.
