Haber is learning from my comments. Breaking the silence group, if they provide direct evidence and not heresay of israel crimes, fine. otherwise their claims are worthless. As Haber pointed out, look at the enemy. Syrians are nice compared to hamas and hezbollah. Bunkers that are hardened, ieds and booby traps, kornet antitank missiles that blow limbs apart and burn bodies, hamas wearing womens or childrens' clothes or idf uniforms and firing behind their own human shields, traps from tunnels to abduct soldiers, bombs in dolls etc. So israelis are to check this out in a spit second and get their arms blown off and brains smattered and then breaking the silence would not complain. You and olmert, oz and grossman, ginsberg and beilin, ben ami, banki-moon, solana, sarkozy and moratinos maek me sick with your bleeding hearts. In fact, idf will have to use more of the asymmetric tactics, yes shields, yes phosphorus bombs, yes gas, yes artillery and rocket fire, yes flooding, yes whatever it takes. Hezbollah and hamas employ ingenious and diabolical methods designed to maim and kill in the dirtiest way possible.IDF come first as haber finally sees the light. You want to lose;join the 6 million nice guys who had the approval of breaking the silence who were burnt in the ovens. You want to live, you do whatever it takes, whatever it takes. There is no army that has figured out how to fight asymmetric wars, short of the russians who killed 2 million chechyans. It may come to that. If the so called arabs living in the area continue to fight with such inhuman tactics, then they will be eliminated in war. Jews intend to survive and that applies to kameini and ahmadinejad to. Jews were around with king cyrus when there was no palestinian state so we have nothing to learn from them. And finally, Yaalon is right about no more concessions. Israel has no more room to withdraw from.Arabs fought with israel before 67 with terror from gaza, jordan and syria. No lands were occupied. So the argument has nothing to do with occupied lands. Now west bank is disputed land with israeli historical claim and defensive war claim. West bank is certainly disputed as well historically and defensive war.israel will do what it has to do. Belilin, ben ami, olmert and livni, peres, turgemanadn turbowitz, emanual and dekel can go live in gaza or nablus and eat fly infested shwarma.

But they also put on a uniform to fight and attempt to kill only combatants. Whereas the Arabs take off their uniforms and always attempt to kill civilians regardless of which side they are on.

If Breaking the Silence were honorable members, as the author claims, they would have gone first to their commanders and up the ranks to get their concerns heard. Those chose to go straight to the media, and that leaves me suspicious of them. The fact that they are funded by the EU, who also has a set agenda and funds many anti-Israel NGOs, including Peace Now, these "honorable members" pretty much lose all credibility. No sir - these "honorable" members were not acting out of conscious, they were being subversive and disrespectful. They didn't take into account the very strong emotional and mental pressures of war, especially in Gaza where Hamas promised them booby traps would be everywhere and on everything. My guess is that these whistle-blowers, who didn't really see action themselves because they can't speak from that same "moment of death" situation, are really soldiers who hate having to serve (and couldn't et out of it) or hate their commanders. Anyone who places their own desires and feelings ahead of their own platoon, their own peer IDF soldiers is nothing close to being honorable.

This article is a waste of time. These so called "conscious people" having anything but human conscious, their hatred toward their own brothers is animalistic. As cruel as this sounds I hope they repent or drop dead! All they want is to see Israelis DEAD! They make us GAG!

It's not simply a matter of giving IDF soldiers the benefit of the doubt or not. Breaking the Silence comes to the issue with an agenda, and they're not averse to "bearing false witness". A priori, they believe the IDF is evil and prone to committing war crimes. They are thus apt to believe the most outrageous claims, giving credence to "eyewitnesses" who deserve no credibility. They don't confirm the allegations before releasing their reports. Nor do they provide adequate information for independent investigators, such as those in the IDF, to confirm or deny the allegations. The foreign governments who fund such a group obviously aren't interested in getting the facts. They too have an agenda.

Great article.

Eitan Haber is a complete fool if not an outright liar. There is ample evidence that the Israeli military have deliberately killed many civilians for the sole purpose of terrorizing them. This is a well known tactic used by Israel in an attempt to cower the enemies into submission. Like, don't mess with us and the next time will be much worse.

Perhaps Eitan Haber tells the truth. But all these years we spoke of "Purity of Arms." We should have an open public discussion regarding what our values are, and then say publicly what we believe in our hearts.

Ynetnews published an IDF operation which photographed using Palestinian children as human shields IDF members confessed their crimes during operation, In fact IDF shall not dare to operate if troops were ordered to respect human life and avoid indiscriminate killings, that is because indiscriminate killings are more "SECURE" for them, they need not discern whether an old women is realy old or a pretending militan to explode himself near the IDF troops, therefore they kill any living and moving object

Eitan Haber, would you consider it reasonable for a country invading and occupying Israel to place the lives of its troops ahead of those of Israeli civilians?

It is beyond a reasonable doubt, that in any conflict across the globe that innocent cicilians get harmed in the process. It's an unfortunate truth, but it's just that, the truth. The IDF, Hashem protect them, raise the standard for the rules of engagment by thinking before acting, I don't think there is any other army in the "western" world that holds that same policy, they would rather shoot first, talk later. I proudly defend the IDF for doing what they do best, ensuring the safety and prosperity of democracy in the middle east

Thank you for telling the truth. 100% correct.

I'm an IDF sargent in a fighting unit. Our entire basic training included daily mantras of 'the IDF does not target civilians'. We heard that till it came out of our ears. The IDF DOES NOT deliberately in any shape or fashion target civilians as a policy. There are of course incidences where civilians are hurt, but this is never the intention. There are also incidences of individuals serving in the army who are less than humane to their enemy. This is frowned upon in the IDF and is always investigated and punished. There is no such thing as a sterile or humane war. If the Arabs would accept the existence of the State of Israel, we would not be in this situation. But the conflict is much more beneficial to them (than to us Israelis) than living peacefully.

When you have 3 or 4 deaths on 1 side and more than 1000 on the other. It is not really us or them.

my son was in cast lead and safely returned. if the equation is either: them or us. the choice is simple- I want every man and woman of the idf to safely return. the conflict resulted from hamas' conduct. they, not the idf, bear the burdens of what occurred. g-d bless the idf. events move quickly. one cannot 2nd guess split second decisions even if it means the 'innocents' of gaza are involved. let the 'innocents' 'kvetch' to hama. someone should tell Breaking the Silence to just shut up.

Why is Ynet giving this Bozo a platform??

us or them for if we did not do that, the results would be horrid. Look back at history babe. When Jews sit quiet during trouble against, they always die

For those who need to learn, experience, & broaden their horizons on a basic level: People of principle & conscience are important, but there are limits. Personally, I prefer those of “Vision and action”-those who have the personal experience, & “Skin in the game” making declarations, not anonymous junior wannabe Woodward & Bernstein (Watergate reporters). I politically disagree completely with Amram Mitzna, but personally respect him enormously. Most Israeli soldiers are 18-22; junior commanders up to 25; senior unit commanders 30-35. Even reservists are perhaps 35-40. They are fathers, parents, & husbands, constantly exposed to the media, society, & Jewish ethos of preserving life. I find it very, very difficult to believe that there was anything untoward, certainly not systemic. “Democracy is not a suicide pact.” Freedom of speech doesn’t include falsely yelling “Fire” in a crowded theatre. Discontent does not justify organisational anarchy & spreading exaggerations or lies. “Human Rights” don’t justify self destructiveness or suicidal negligence. So: Establish a few life sized "Urban Combat Simulators"-you only need an area the size of a cinema or basketball gym-the technology exists. Build a street or two & some rows of houses (1-2 stories, 5-6 houses). Install a Rock Concert sized “surround sound” system, sound track, & local (non lethal...) explosions, smoke, wind, rain, mechanical ground & building shaking equipment. Install popup "enemy" & locals. Popup "Bang, you're dead" signs, & sprays of red (washable...) paint, animal entrails, dust, & dirt. Include automatic radar & proximity sensor operated sprays of rubber “stingers.” Essentially, a commercialised training centre, simulator, obstacle course, or very realistic sound stage. Bigger is better. Dirty Harry writ large. People can play team "Painball" (sic), run through (fully field equipped or not), or just walk through with the sound & light turned up realistically. Different skill & sound levels can be set. A moneymaker, too... Different scenarios can be set-an Arab or Russian massacre in a Darfuran or Chechnyn village; a suicide bombing in a local bus or market (Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Beirut, Philippines, Bali, London, Madrid, etc...); patrolling Bagdad or Fallujah; the inside of the World Trade Center.... Then, we'll see who is complaining about “Purity of Arms.”

There is no proof that the IDF shoots unarmed women and children, in that they are the intended target. If terrorists hide behind unarmed women and children, and they often do, making sure it's not known to the IDF until the last minute....then you get what we have now - dead civilians that are a PR triumph for Pal terrorists who are elated and eager to do it again, and again. Yet you have NO condemnation for them. Why? Are these children's lives not worth anything to you except as a PR tool? Sick!

There was no proof that IDF soldiers picked up civilians and used them as shields. There were rumors as such but I haven't seen any photos of it. Ynet may have them but CNN and BBC who love anti-Israel stories didn't. However, by popular demand, there are several videos of Hamas men carrying children...literally picking them up from the side of the street, school bag and all....and carrying them in front of their body to avoid being targeted. In addition, several heart-wrenching testimonies of families being used as bait for soldiers, including being locked up in booby-trapped houses. Where is your condemnation of this? Why do you not have disdain for anyone who would put a child's life in danger? Because you are simply anti-Israel, not Pro-Life! Based on ALL intelligence and military analysis of Israel's actions in Gaza, all were duly impressed because many more civilians should have been killed based upon the level of urban warfare, the cynical booby-trapping of homes and families, and the use of civilian infrastructure to launch terrorist attacks. If the IDF shoots at anything that moves, then I ask you...why: 1) Do kids in Nablus feel safe enough to ump on a moving APC through town - they've been doing this for years. 2) Do civilians march across the border from Lebanon to Israel without fear of being targeted? 3) Do terrorists always either dress up as civilians, hide behind civilians, or ask civilians to do their dirty work like transport bombs or knives? Your duplicity and hatred has been uncovered, Turkey-boy.

So where is it? Is it a closely held secret by Israel-bashers and self-righteous Leftists, to be revealed on the day and time of choosing? Please, get a life. There is more proof to the contrary of your statement than for it. If there was proof to substantiate your - I would guess "wish" more than a "claim" - than it would have been made public long ago. To which I say...have you read the papers where group after group who claimed "war crimes" against Israel has dropped the claim??

The question you need to ask is this - if invaded by another country would Israel sacrifice it's civilians in order to keep the power base in check or to gain valuable PR? The answer to both is NO. The IDF would act on behalf of its citizens just as the British Army or the US Amry would for their citizens - to protect them from harm and to place them FAR away from action...unlike Pals who place civilians right in the action on purpose. Sad but very, very true.

had any body heard of Israeli civilians accompanying soldiers in Gaza?

i knew and he said ..... west bank was free of jordanian army 3 days before the begining of war . all the dead were civilianse ... when israil deviate the egyption army and elmusheer amer asked the army to get back from sina israil found it an opurtunity to deviate and took the jolani land it was not in their agenda before .it was the feeling of win to get crimes but in gaza it was another story .. they decided to do evry crime to deviate hamass .. and the result is more and more crimes against civiliance and hamass are still there

Hamas fires rocket OVER the heads of soldiers at civilians.