OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, October 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - An Israeli air force general who signed a petition refusing to take part in strikes in the occupied Palestinian territories has been dismissed from his position as an instructor, Israeli media reported Wednesday, October 8.

Reserve Brigadier General Yeftah Spector was sacked from his post at the air force training academy by air force commander General Dan Halutz after refusing to retract his views, Agence France-Press (AFP) reported.

Spector is considered a legendary pilot in the Israeli Air Force history, who took part in the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1980s and was a candidate for the post of Israeli Air Force Commander.

"The continuation of the occupation endangers the security of the state of Israel, as well as its moral fiber," the pilots added in their letter.

Commenting on the decision, Spector said, "Halutz summoned me to his office and asked me for permission to end my flying," Jerusalem post reported.

"I felt this was something he needed to do for his own authority so I told him 'No problem'. I put my record and my reputation and my wings on the table for the future," Spector added.

"I don't fly anymore. They threw me out."

"I'm 63. The country isn't losing much. Until a week ago I was training flight instructors," he told the Israeli daily.

Around 200 Israeli professors and university students signed a petition on Wednesday, October 1, supporting the pilots courageous decision, AFP said.

"The elected government doesn't have the right to destroy this country's military. We, professors, teachers and university students who have signed this petition, support the pilots who have the courage to refuse to participate in the repression and massacre of another people."

Israeli air force commander Dan Haloutz accused the pilots of playing politics and also criticized them for not airing their grievances through the proper chain of command.

"We have to deal with matters appropriately. This is not an earthquake in the air force. This afternoon was the first I have heard of this," Haloutz told Channel 10 TV.

Spector also rejects the claim that these principles of disobeying illegal orders were self evident among the entire military.

"Why should I and the other pilots strip off our shirts and start yelling like a mad man 'I don't want to kill!' Why? It's because these pilots and myself have a sense that this could happen," Spector said.

Spector has no worries about raising the background to the purity of arms in the Israeli army, mentioning Deir Yassin, Kibya, and Kafr Kasim where Israeli soldiers killed civilians.

Spector said that if he were a Palestinian living under the oppression of Israel today he would strongly fight against it.

"My father fought against the British Mandate and against the Nazis. If I were an Arab, part of a people who were being treated like this I would fight it too."

He said he gave up his wings willingly, but notes others who have signed the letter have not coped as well, Jerusalem Post reported.

"One of these kids phoned me and cried. They told him they are grounding him and he doesn't know what to do. I asked him how old he was, and he told me 25. I told him 'You've developed a spine, use it.'"