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The Scroll

Shoot First

Israeli offical recommends killing conscientious soldiers

By Liel Leibovitz|March 2, 2011 2:00 PM|7comments
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(iStockPhoto)

The leading candidate for the position of Israel’s national security adviser, former IDF general Ya’akov Amidror, has some novel ideas about military conduct: any soldier who refuses to fight should be shot in the head.

Last year, Amidror participated in a panel on values in the army. “A soldier who won’t attack when they tell him ‘forward’ because he says, ‘Two soldiers to my right and two to my left have been killed, so I won’t move’ – any normal military system should put a bullet in his head,” he said.Later in the discussion, responding to a question from the audience, Amidror said that a soldier should be taught to kill “anyone who hinders him in executing the mission.” When a co-panelist, one of Israel’s most veteran journalists, suggested that the IDF used to tell its soldiers to fight with caution, Amidror snapped. “That’s a totally illegal order,” he replied. “What should be said is ‘kill more of the bastards ton the other side, so that we’ll win.’ Period.”

Approached yesterday by Ha’aretz, Amidror struck a different note. “There are countries where you execute soldiers who refuse to obey the order to charge, and countries where you have them court-martialed,” he said. “We court-martial. I think we should be one of those countries that court-martial.” The better question is whether Israel should be one of those countries where a man of Amidror’s opinions should be allowed anywhere near the decision-making process.


‘IDF Soldiers Who Won’t Fight Should Be Shot’ Says National Security Adviser Candidate [Haaretz]
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  • Hershel Ginsburg

    Amidror was interviewed live on both Reshet Bet & Galei Tzahal and it became very clear that Ha’aretz (as is its wont) totally distorted what Amidror said, let alone fully reporting the context of a heated panel discussion. It’s also quite clear that Ha’aretz has a vendetta out to “get” Amidror in particular and any Kippa wearers in general when they manage to crack through the glass ceiling.

    This past Friday Ha’aretz had an article worrying about the fact that a large proportion of the Netanyahu’s close advisers are kippa wearers (and in one case a women who covers her hair). Time to call a spade a spade.

    Ha’aretz is a bastion of left-wing bigotry, which Liel Liebovitz parrots faithfully.

    hg

    Israel

  • http://icouldbewrong.blogspot.com Dan Simon

    Actually, one should hope for a wide variety of opinions to be “allowed anywhere near the decision-making process”–including Amidror’s. The national security advisor has no direct decision-making power; his role is to provide a pure “national security” perspective to the leadership, untainted by political or even moral considerations. Amidror’s counsel may not always be the correct one to follow in every circumstance, but a decision-making process that includes someone like him is bound to be far better than one conducted by, say, a roomful of unctuously preening Liel Leibovitzes.

  • H/Ramat-Gan/Israel

    To be more specific Hershel Haaretz is a bastion of Antisemitism here in Israel.

  • Alfred

    As it was reported in Israel, Amidror was speaking about soldiers who are scared under fire leading to their comrades’ death, not “conscientious” objectors. Liel, double-check your facts, because if you’re misreporting it’s borderline defamation.

  • Hershel (Heshy) Ginsburg

    Good point Alfred… I forgot about that. But expecting Liebovitz to check his facts is about as useless as expecting intellectual honesty out of Ha’aretz. Being politically correct means never having to say you’re sorry.

    hg

  • http://benplonie.bravehost.com/ Ben Plonie

    And Haaretz made a point of highlighting a question about an order to kill to a five year old, which the commenters naturally and immediately called a war crime. Oh, those Israeli right-wing monsters!

    It was referring to a situation of a child who is booby trapped or used as a human shield for enemy fighters.

  • http://galaxieint'l Berel Nissan

    I would ship conscientous objectors and all ultra-orthodox fundamentalists to Biro Bijian, the region in Siberia that Stalin set aside for a Jewish Homeland. My dream for Israel is a secular state, and throw out all religious laws that restrict non-religious Jews, all regs considering women as second class citizens, and any exemptions from IDF service.

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Shoot First

Israeli offical recommends killing conscientious soldiers