Our Young Soldiers Deserve Better

The Israeli government is failing the IDF. The IDF is failing its officers and men. We as a nation are failing our young.

As hundreds, actually by now it is thousands; of soldiers in the IDF take to social media to demonstrate their support for the David, the Nahal soldier filmed cocking his weapon amidst a confrontation with Palestinian youth. One can understand their anger and frustration.

Due to the policies of numerous governments, for far too long now, the IDF places our young people in impossible situations, a state of “catch 22” if you like, where they are damned if they do and damned, perhaps even worse; if they don’t.

At the tender age of 18 years old, our children are drafted into military service. The majority go willingly, hoping to serve their country as best they can. The best combat units are oversubscribed and comprise a true cross section and the cream of our youth. Infantry units such as Nahal in which the unfortunate David serves; are taken through their paces, tested to the limit and moulded into a highly effective fighting force.

They are trained in open warfare, urban combat, house to house fighting, search and destroy, as well as other forms of military combat. These highly trained and highly motivated young soldiers are amongst the best in the world and prepared for war in all its guises.

The one thing however for which they are not prepared, or for that matter trained properly; is the policing of a hostile civilian population such as the Palestinians in Yehuda and Shomron, or what is more commonly known as The West Bank. The young soldier, caught on film cocking his gun is just one more example of an Israeli soldier placed in an impossible situation where he cannot win.

The young soldier was understandably nervous when confronted by the youths. To be frank it looked more like a cynical set up by the Palestinians for propaganda purposes, with a couple of cameras, not phone cameras; that just happened to be there at the time. That however is not the point.

The young soldier felt threatened and cocked his weapon. What the hell was he doing on his own in the first place? Where was the rest of his unit? Some officer has a lot of explaining to do! Yes, David’s language and general demeanour were inappropriate and unprofessional however, when you are trained for war and forced to police, then you are bound to be confused not to mention ill prepared.

Perhaps the powers that be would have preferred the infantryman to follow the example of more experienced reservists. A few weeks ago eight reservists were faced with a very clear threat to their safety from around fifty civilians. They did not cock their weapons!

As the civilians approached and clearly stated their aggressive intent, ordering the reserve soldiers to step aside or face being beaten by the mob, the soldiers duly stepped aside and allowed the civilians to rampage, destroying military equipment and property.

This happened in the same area as yesterday’s event, the only difference being that in this case, the mob was not Palestinians. They were Jews, Jewish extremists, thugs who attacked their own soldiers, and destroyed an Israeli military position.

The soldiers did not defend themselves. They did not cock their weapons. They stepped aside. Had the unfortunate David behaved in such a manner, what might the consequences have been?

The sad reality is that the army is ill suited to such duties. There is a lack of clear direction on the part of the High Command, leaving officers and men confused, frustrated and often impotent.

Rather than serving with the clear knowledge and understanding that they are defending their homeland and protecting their fellow Israelis, these brave young men and women, or should I say boys and girls; find themselves policing a hostile civilian population, men, women, and children, often having to deal with extreme and dire situations for which they are not trained and sometimes regrettably, where the morality and legality, even the very purpose of their actions could be brought into question.

A continued military presence amongst a hostile civilian population, OK let’s call it what it is, the occupation and the subjugation of the Palestinians is clearly having an adverse effect on our young soldiers, causing considerable damage and trauma. This damage and trauma carries over into civilian life and we see the results in everyday life with a huge increase in violence on our streets and in our homes and the erosion of our moral fibre as a nation. Moreover, Israeli soldiers now face threats and danger from the own people, where Jewish extremist thugs, or perhaps we should call them terrorists; think nothing of intimidating, attacking and harming Israeli soldiers.

Those who serve and put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect us deserve far better from their leaders, their officers and their society. If we continue the cynical exploitation and abuse of our young, taking their patriotism and motivation for granted, ultimately bringing their military service into question, we will do untold damage to the idea of national service to the IDF, and not just to those who serve, but to their families and to our society as a whole.

As we prepare to honour our fallen soldiers and victims of terror this Remembrance Day, we simply must ensure that we do far better by those who serve today.