A soldier who decided he was going to impress his friends now finds that he was less than successful. On Tuesday, he was sent to military jail for 21 days for his amazing insubordination, or just plain ‘chutzpah’.

Last week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi arrived at Yad L’Banim to take part in a memorial service for fallen Kfir soldiers. After he got out of his chopper, the soldier approached him and did not salute or address him as “Commander” or “Chief Ashkenazi” but brazenly went over to the highest ranking IDF officer and said, “Gabi, tell me, why are you late. You do not function on schedule. We are waiting for you for hours.”

The IDF commander actually was quite on time, and unlike the soldier, did not respond rudely – opting to continue on his way without responding. The soldier’s immediate commander and the battalion commander, Colonel Etai Virov on the other hand could not permit the incident to pass and the soldier was held accountable for his insubordinate actions.

The soldier in his own defense stated he was “just joking around” but his commanders were unimpressed, ordering him to 21 days lockup.

Officials explain the punishment was in line with ongoing efforts to raise the level of discipline in Kfir, seeking to raise it to the level of other infantry battalions.

The Office of the IDF Spokesperson adds that the decision to punish the soldier came from his own commanders and there was no such directive from Chief Ashkenazi.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)