Elite officers criticize IDF actions in territories

Four officers in the elite Air Force unit "Shaldag" recently sent a letter to senior Israel Defense Forces officers in which they leveled harsh criticism at the army's operations in the territories.

The officers said that they had no intention of refusing to serve, but objected to some of the army's tactics in the territories. They were particularly troubled by the widespread demolition of houses in Gaza, which they said was immoral and hurt the innocent.

They also criticized specific operations in which they took part, such as one in which soldiers took up positions in Palestinian houses in the southern West Bank town of Yatta. The goal was to keep terrorists away from the roads, but in practice the operation resulted in systematic harassment of the Palestinian population, they wrote.

The four, all doing their compulsory service, hold an air force rank equivalent to company commander. Their letter, first reported on Ma'ariv's Internet site, was sent to Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon, Deputy Chief of Staff and former Air Force commander Dan Halutz, and current Air Force Commander Eliezer Shakedi.

The letter supplies a partial answer to a question that has puzzled many observers: Why has there been virtually no public criticism of the army's actions in the territories from soldiers doing their compulsory service? Many reservists have gone public with their criticisms, and some teenagers have refused to be drafted at all, but the draftees have largely been silent.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/482617.html