Israeli Army Vindicated
Apr 7th, 2009 | 6 responses
This should get as much media and blog coverage as the scurrilous war crimes accusations it refutes but it probably won’t….
Jerusalem Post: ‘Isolated vandalism isn’t a war crime’
Operation Cast Lead was completely justified, isolated acts of vandalism do not make the IDF an army of war criminals, and religious graduates of the military preparatory programs add to the morality of the IDF, Danny Zamir, the head of the Rabin Pre-Military Academy in Kiryat Tivon, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
Zamir’s comments came after the Post obtained a copy of an article he wrote for circulation abroad, in which he tried to put into context the brouhaha that resulted from publication of a discussion among nine graduates of his program after Operation Cast Lead. The discussion
included allegations of two instances in which soldiers deliberately shot and killed innocent Palestinians, and of wanton vandalism.“The whole story spun out of control,” Zamir said. “From an internal discussion where soldiers talked about what was difficult and painful in the war, and which I took to the army because I expected them to deal with the issues raised, the international media turned the IDF into war criminals.”
The transcript of the soldiers’ comments, which appeared in an internal newsletter that was posted on the Internet, led to a media sensation, with numerous articles using the soldiers’ comments to substantiate allegations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
DANNY ZAMIR in the Jerusalem Post – Personal code of IDF soldier: ‘May our camp be pure’
A number of articles published recently in The New York Times quoted or were based on words spoken by myself and by graduates of the pre-army leadership development program which I head (the “Rabin Mechina”) – graduates who participated as combat soldiers in Operation Cast Lead and who met recently to process personal experiences from the battlefield.
Both explicitly and by insinuation, the articles claim a decline in the IDF’s commitment to its moral code of conduct in combat, and moreover, that this decline stems from a specific increase in the prominence of religious soldiers and commanders in the IDF in general, and from the strengthening of the position of IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronsky in particular.
It was as if the media were altogether so eager to find reason to criticize the IDF that they pounced on one discussion by nine soldiers who met after returning from the battlefield to share their experiences and subjective feelings with each other, using that one episode to draw conclusions that felt more like an indictment. Dogma
replaced balance and led to a dangerous misunderstanding of the depth and complexity of Israeli reality. The individual accounts were never intended to serve as a basis for broad generalizations and summary conclusions by the media; they were published internally, intended for program graduates and their parents as a tool to be used in the process of educating and guiding the next generation.[major snip]
IF IT’S possible to learn something from the real Israel – and not that which the media (including Israeli media) makes such efforts to portray – it would be from the uproar of emotions and the frank discussions that have taken place within Israeli society in the wake of the soldiers’ accounts. It is out of their commitment to the moral code that the soldiers spoke and their accounts were submitted; purity of arms requires continuous examination of our actions and intentions.
“May our camp be pure.” This is the watchword borne by my soldiers in the IDF, not only because this is how they’ve been educated by their commanders and their officers, but because this is the essence of their belief and their national heritage, a belief and heritage shared by and uniting us all: secular and religious, right and left, in the IDF and outside it. It is a source of pride and of confidence in our way, even in times of venomous attacks from every quarter – such as transforming a sensitive, personal discussion among combat soldiers back from the battlefield to mendacious claims of policies that involve so-called war crimes.
And so may it be.
[Gen. Gabi] Ashkenazi: Allegations of IDF war crimes in Gaza ‘unfounded’
IDF chief says “disturbing ‘testimonies’” exhaustively investigated; army’s “source of strength” the determination to safeguard its “ethical image.”
6 Responses to “Israeli Army Vindicated”
Shorter version: Military spokesman says military is great!
lol…that's very true…lol..
Wanton violence on behalf of anyone is morally repugnant. Israel will be judged accordingly whether or not it brings those responsible to justice. Things have a funny way of coming back to haunt people.. And who were those Israeli generals taking orders from right around just before Obama's inaugeration? I mean who were they really taking orders from? Maybe the two sets of war crimes aren't as far apart in origin as originally thought.
I still love Osama Bin Laden's command performance right on cue when people were criticizing Israel's attack. Imagine how convenient to spur support for Israel that was? Downright uncanny if you ask me…
Unless I am misreading the article this is essentially saying that the army looked into allegations of its misconduct and decided it was innocent.
I'm sorry but any time any military does an “internal investigation” of alleged wrongdoing and discovers itself to be squeaky clean my BS meter posts. How about if some disinterested party, like the Red Cross or Amnesty International, takes a look at the facts.
Ditto what Degrance said..
Holly – I can't believe you are this naive. I am in Israel right now, up because of jet lag, and here to celebrate Passover with all my relatives. As I mentioned before I have nephews in the IDF, one is a Captain in the Golani and the other is in the Givati. We have discussed the Gaza campaign extensively and while they did not witness personally the episodes cited by Danny Zamir, they saw and participated in plenty of action which comes as close to war crimes as they ever want to be.
Most typically, you could characterize the IDF as showing a callous disregard for civilian life. Examples would be coming into a town and designating a building or home for IDF survelliance purpose. First, tanks would shell each floor of the building. Then troops would enter and throw grenades into every room to make sure everyone was dead. One home that was so designated had a mother and a small boy peaking out a window, the commander then ordered the tank to blow that room up – killing the mother and a small boy and girl. In another instance, in a home the soldiers heard someone crying in a back room – they just opened the door a crack and threw two grenades in – killing a mother and her toddler.
The ROE during Operation Cast Lead was don't get killed or captured – anything else was golden. Red Crescent workers were shot at as they tried to pick up wounded – if it moved it was fair game, especially if was male. In one house they encountered an old woman holding a WWI rifle – protecting her daughter and grandchildren. They opened up and shot her full of about 100 rounds then arrested the daughter, leaving 5 children behind in the house with the oldest being about 9 or 10.
I know it is war and sh.. happens but even the IDF captain said this was different even from when he was in Lebanon in 2006. He is considering retiring after 17 years in the IDF. A huge portion of the IDF now comes from the settlements and most of them have chips on their shoulders and an absolute hatred of all things arab. This isn't the IDF my nephew once knew and was proud of. He is not anti-settler as he lives in Ariel (a side note- not one of my 35 relatives live in pre-67 Israel).
The word has come down from Ashkenazi himself – NO ONE TALKS about Gaza ever again except through his approved channels. The Hasbara is going to be the only voice heard from now on.
where do you get this shit? Your words are very dangerous, and I would think that a jewish person like yourself would know that. I served in the idf and I know first hand that is NOT how we operate. You are being grossly naive about the power of incitement. You words sound strangly similar to anti-semitic/anti-Israel left wing, Jew-dafaming lies that the media twists. Don't compare us to other nations, and don't scapegoat us. We put up with beligerance that no other nation would, and at the same time act with self damaging restraint. You show a total ignorance of history and the imminant threat of genocide that we face. Shame on you.