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Over
the last year ‘Breaking the Silence’ has collected testimonies given
by hundreds of IOF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers who served in
the territories during the last conflict. These testimonies reveal
the impossible reality those soldiers have to face, and the terrible
moral price this reality demands. Selected collections from those
testimonies have been published in testimonial collections produced
by ‘Breaking the Silence’.
The
present collection is not just one more testimonial-collection,
revealing the brutal routine of the territories’ reality, or the
constant moral degradation and erosion of soldiers’ values. The
collection focuses on IOF orders, rules of engagement and
operational procedures. It presents a grave picture of evidently
illegal orders given frequently, and in different times and places:
firing at civilians who pose no risk, revenge operations,
intentionally shooting at rescue-forces, and more. This collection
reveals the depth of the military administration’s moral corruption,
and the dimness of moral sense, which has spread to the highest
ranks. The testimonies in this collection concerns various units
that were operative in the territories in different times and at
different places, and is thus an evidence for the magnitude of the
moral decay, and for the depths to which flawed norms have diffused.
It
is also apparent that the IOF’s self-inspection system has failed to
fulfill its duty. This also applies to the civilian and
parliamentary inspection mechanisms, which, during the last
confrontations, have consistently refrained from criticizing the
army’s mode of conduct in general, and its rules of engagement in
particular. This brings out sharply an urgent need to create a
platform on which the information we have gathered here can be
presented, in order to examine what this information teaches, as
well as the IOF’s mode of conduct during the last confrontations. A
civilized and decent society cannot survive without a continuous
inspection and criticism of the most powerful organization operating
within it. ‘Breaking the Silence’ is therefore calling for the
establishment of an independent public inspection committee, which
will enable a responsible disclosure and examination of the facts.
Listening and taking responsibility is the very least that is
required of society and its representatives in a civilized and
decent society founded on basic moral values.
Verifying a Kill
Witness: Officer
in an elite unit
Place: Anabta
Description:
One
of our stakeouts really did kill two people that shot towards a car,
but hurt no one.
They found them shooting the road, and so…?
Yes.
And then they shot, killed two out of four. Two got away. So, we
came there after this incident, and then the brigade commander
arrived. It was Anabta, I think. Exactly west of Chomesh [Jewish
settlement]. Yes; it could be the area. So ***, the brigade
commander comes.
This
was after…?
After the incident. In our unit we take our time. We don’t rush
things. We throw grenades, and until we are certain they are really
dead… It is not that we run straight ahead and storm them.
What do you mean?
It
means that we run the whole business safely, not hastily. I mention
that because it took a really long time from the time of the event
‘till the Brigade commander came, and gave the order – “Come, go
into the nearby houses.”
Wait, since you’ve already mentioned it – was it part of the
procedure to verify killing?
Yes.
Meaning…
This
whole fuss about kill-verification, I don’t know why it became such
a big deal. The chief of staff came out really bad of this whole
business.
Why?
Because it was something we all learned on the first day in the army
– we verify killing. I remember the picture. I also remember that
the guy who preformed it was the platoon commander. I was telling
myself it must be disgusting. He just went there, looked at the
terrorist’s head, and gave a few bullets.
Approached the terrorist and boom, boom, boom?
Exactly.
The company commander?
The
company commander.
So
the combat ends, and ***, the brigade commander, comes and
essentially wants to look for the two who got away. No, we didn’t
ask him what it was all about. “We need to show them we are here.”
Now. The houses were pretty far away. In short, it was…
Like, show your presence in the nearby village?
Yes,
they certainly ran away in that direction. The guys saw that, but it
doesn’t matter, because it was a really long time after the whole
business… It went very slowly, this whole event. It wasn’t like –
‘Are they dead? Go verify the killing. Now, what’s next?’ and army
spokesman people were brought in. – Who deal with body
documentation, and such stuff?
A
film unit from the IOF spokesman?
I
don’t know. In short, they came to take pictures of the terrorists
with the weapons. They had M-16s and all. I mean, it was really… I
can’t say if it was an hour, or longer, when half of the world was
there, and it was like everyone wanted their picture to be taken.
To have a picture with the bodies?
No,
no, no. I only mean that they came to see what was going on. One
knows something good is happening – that there is a success – so
everyone wants to take the credit. On that day our unit’s commander,
***, came, and I also remember that he came with another guy
that was part of his crew – a guy who was an officer in our
headquarters. Then they assembled us in a U shape formation. It was
sunset. Both of them stand (the unit commander, and his friend who
was 1.90 meters tall). They tell them what happened, and all, and
then they turn towards the sunset and begin: “Do you remember how we
once shot that guy with a gun?” and all sorts of stories. It was
funny – really funny. Surreal. Like, you know, talk among themselves
for us youngsters to hear their war-legacy.
So, it took a lot of time, you came with the brigade commander ***,
and essentially what does he say? That you should enter the village
and…?
That we should enter the village, get into a couple of houses and
go out. Show our presence. No doubt. I remember we asked him what it
was all about? “It’s an hour and a half after the incident. Do you
think they’re in the first house? What are they – morons?” – “No. We
should show our presence, if Israelis don't sleep well they
(Palestinians) won't sleep well". The usual story… It is not
something new.
So did you get in alone, or was there another force with you?
No.
In the end we didn’t get in. We told him that we talked to our
commanders and they somehow convinced him, and he gave up on it –
understood it was bullshit.
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