Stern says all brands of insubordination dangerous
צילום: שאול גולן
IDF distributes ‘disobedience guide’
Document distributed among all army commanders amid concerns over the prospect of an insubordination wave by soldiers opposed to the disengagement plan; disobedient officers may face military court
TEL AVIV - Is the army preparing for an insubordination wave? The IDF has distributed a “disobedience guide” for commanders who may face soldiers opposed to the Gaza pullout plan.
The document, signed by the IDF’s Manpower Division Head Elazar Stern, was distributed to all IDF commanders Monday and includes detailed responses to any display of disobedience.
Although the army has mostly dismissed fears of mass right-wing disobedience until now, the new document appears to reflect genuine concern among IDF officials over the prospect of a disobedience wave.
Disobedient career officers may lose job
The guide indicates that insubordinate commanders will be treated more harshly than regular soldiers. Among other measures, a disobedient officer would be dismissed and could face a military court.
As far as signing petitions that express an intention to refuse to follow evacuation orders, guilty soldiers would be called in for a talk with a commander. Should the soldiers refuse to renounce their actions, they would be dismissed and would face disciplinary action.
Career army officers, meanwhile, could see their contract annulled should they commit certain offences, such as calling on others to refuse orders.
The complex reality faced by the IDF in the past four years requires soldiers to carry out missions that do not enjoy national consensus, Stern tells commanders in the document.
“This reality places, on occasion, IDF commanders and soldiers in a moral debate between their personal views and positions and the obligation to carry out the missions they were tasked with by the political echelons,” he writes.
‘Insubordination database to be set up’
Stern notes displays of insubordination from the left side of the political spectrum, with soldiers refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza, and says similar voices of disobedience are now heard from the Right.
Any kind of disobedience, whether from the Left or the Right, constitutes an identical threat to Israeli society, he says, and adds that insubordination could endanger the IDF’s continued existence and even the existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish, democratic country.
Meanwhile, the IDF has decided to establish a database that would be used to collect all information related to the various aspects of insubordination.
