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Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon declares war on ex-soldiers’ protest group
Mr Yaalon said the army had previously attempted to investigate incidents recounted in the group’s testimony ‘but they turned out to be groundless’
Ben Lynfield Jerusalem
Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon has banned the military from all contact with the dovish ex-soldiers’ group Breaking the Silence, vowing to carry out a “total struggle” against the organisation which he accuses of undermining Israel’s image abroad.
The group, which was founded in 2004, collects and publishes anonymous testimonies from Israeli soldiers about their service in the occupied territories, revealing alleged abuses against the Palestinian population that are omitted from the sanitised official information provided by the army’s spokesmen and top brass.
Its stated goal is to show the “moral price” that Israel is paying for the occupation, and it tends to blame not the soldiers but the people who send them into the West Bank and Gaza.
In May it issued a report on the 2014 Gaza war that raised questions about whether the army had fulfilled its obligations to protect non-combatants. Testimonies spoke of tanks firing for revenge on buildings without knowing whether or not they were legitimate military targets and of lax rules of engagement.
Mr Yaalon posted on Facebook that the group engages in “hypocrisy and deceitful propaganda against soldiers and the state, and is part of the delegitimisation campaign against us”.
As well as making soldiers’ testimonies available to Israeli and international media, the group conducts hundreds of events and tours to interact with the Israeli public.
Its activists also travel to Europe and the US, including a visit to the UK last month for meetings with MPs and talks, some to Jewish audiences, according to its founder, Yehuda Shaul.
Mr Yaalon said the army had previously attempted to investigate incidents recounted in Breaking the Silence testimony “but they turned out to be groundless”. He wrote: “It became clear that this is an organisation that acts out of malicious motives, and against such phenomena we will engage in total struggle.”
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk
Source: http://www.philosophers-stone.co.uk/?p=6759
