The Netzach Yehudi soldier who was one of the soldiers from the unit imprisoned for beating a Bedouin man, has been released from prison. This refers to the soldiers imprisoned after getting into an altercation in a gas station in S. Israel. The soldiers explained the Bedouins were the ones who started the altercation, but their explanation was ignored, and they were sent to prison.
The soldier was released after serving 35 days in a military prison. His attorney, Itamar Ben-Gvir, rejected the plea bargain offered which called for the soldier being tried together with his colleagues and sentenced to 52 days imprisonment.
In the negotiations with the president of the military court, Colonel Wahabi, the sides reached agreement which included erasing the most serious counts in the indictment against the soldier. The soldier admitted he chambered a bullet in his weapon, a violation, and was punished for that and his rank lowered from corporal to private. He was sent to 38 days imprisonment and ultimately released on Tuesday.
Ben-Gvir decried the process, explaining “The person who screamed ‘I’m going to stab you’ remains free while the soldiers remain imprisoned.”
He added it was most unfortunate that the IDF is quick to abandon its own soldiers, harming them, and even if the soldier chambered his weapon without authorization, this was a violation demanding disciplinary action and not a criminal trial.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
“He added it was most unfortunate that the IDF is quick to abandon its own soldiers, harming them,”
And yet people are dying to join the army at any cost.
Military discipline is military discipline. IDF personnel must obey the regulations – that’s what being in any military is about. All regulations and orders which are not in themselves illegal must be obeyed or face discipline. If the regulations say not to chamber a round, and he does, he is liable for punishment. Not to mention the loss of dignity for Tzahal with its soldiers getting involved in street brawls.
In this case we have to back up the military, because that’s backing all the other soldiers who are in the IDF and DON’T violate the regulations.
Midwest:
You need to understand the Dynamics here.
If a soldier is, fire example, misbehaving in public setting, technically speaking a police officer has no power over him (as long as the misbehavior isn’t something that applies to all citizens, not something involving and army weapon, for example).
Same thing if a soldier is on base/on duty, police certainly aren’t allowed in there to punish a misbehavior.
For all of that, there is the Military Police division of the army. When a soldier is caught misbehaving (I believe this applies even when regular police catch him, say, pushing a citizen around), he is ultimately judged by a military court, and the army deals with him accordingly.
As such, Ben Gvir is speaking out against the fact that the soldier received an ordinary criminal punishment as opposed to bring limited to punishments that are given by the military.