It was big news when Israel charged two soldiers with forcing a Palestinian boy to act as a human shield during the Gaza onslaught of two years ago. See, they are accountable. Judge Goldstone’s report is all wrong when he described a culture of “impunity.” Well the two soldiers, now convicted of a truly terrifying crime, remain unnamed and got slaps on the wrist, lest their futures be compromised, the judge said. This Haaretz piece is full of sympathy for the soldiers. Two excerpts:
The two Givati Brigade staff sergeants were demoted to the rank of sergeant, as well as receiving suspended sentence terms of three months each.
The soldiers were convicted last month of forcing a 9-year-old Palestinian boy to open a number of bags they thought might contain explosive materials during Operation Cast Lead. The bags turned out to be harmless…
the presiding judges adding, however, that one could not “ignore the difficult conditions in which fighters sent by the State of Israel had to operate.”
The judges stressed that by separating a 9-year-old boy from his mother, and using him for military aims, the defendants acted in contradiction to known orders, and in a way which represented an injury to “the moral stamina of the IDF and of the people [of Israel], which is tested in difficult times.”
On the other hand, the judges also indicated a long list of considerations which may have affected the soldiers’ actions, such as the fact that they did not seek to harm the boy, that they worked in dangerous conditions and under extreme time constraints, and that both soldiers had a record of excellence and good behavior.
