Israeli Elite Officers Criticise Army Operations in the Occupied Territories

Officers of a prestigious Israeli Army (IDF) unit have again levelled criticism at Israeli Army tactics in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. This time it comes from four officers of the "Shaldag" (Kingfisher) elite unit of the Israeli Air Force.

rw. In a letter to the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff and former Air Force commander, the four officers harshly criticised the operations of the Israeli Army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Particularly troubled by the widespread demolition of houses, they wrote: "The demolition of houses in the occupied territories is immoral." They based their criticism on specific operations in which they themselves took part, e.g. the seizure of Palestinian houses by Israeli soldiers.

In one operation in the southern West Bank town of Yatta, the goal was to keep "terrorists" away from the roads. In reality, the operation resulted in systematic harassment of the Palestinian people. "The IDF hurt innocent civilians," wrote the officers. The officers were particularly troubled by the destruction of dozens of houses in Rafah during 'Operation Rainbow' last May.

According to the 'Harretz' newspaper, strategy in the Gaza Strip differs significantly from that employed in the West Bank. Since the IDF lacks precise secret service information in the West Bank and it sees itself confronted by increasingly violent activities by armed Palestinians, it has allowed operations to escalate to the point of "collective punishment". This has meant that families of "suicide bombers" are punished. At the same time, in Gaza dozens of homes are collectively demolished in order to move front lines away from Israeli settlements.

The four officers emphasised that they had no intention of refusing to serve. They were proud to serve in elite 'Shaldag' force and in criticising specific tactics of the military their goal was to spark internal debate about these disturbing matters. The letter is especially significant because it is not only a statement by officers of the elite 'Shaldag' - a top division of the Israeli Air Force, which also carries out secret missions - but also because the officers themselves are all doing active military service.

'Shaldad' has the advantage over groups which refuse to serve in the Palestinian areas because their criticism is based on their large experience of military operations. The 'Shaldag' force is deeply involved in the conflict in the occupied territories. The unit lays ambushes, carries out arrests and killings.

The letter comes exactly a year after 28 reserve pilots, in an open letter, published their refusal to bomb Palestinian residential areas from the air. All of the pilots involved were discharged. Not long ago, a stir was also caused by members of another elite unit of the IDF (the 'Sayeret-Matkal') criticising Israeli military strategy.

Similar criticism to that of the 'Shaldag' has also been voiced in internal army briefings. Recently, two isolated complaints by a soldier and an officer serving in the occupied territories were formally made to the IDF about the harassment of Palestinian civilians.

Source: Maariv International, 29.09.04; Haaretz, 28.09.04