Beiber walking away from the action
צילום: איי פי
Disobedient soldier retried
After his sentence was reduced by half due to flawed legal procedure, IDF corporal Avi Beiber sent to another 28 days in prison over refusal to take part in razing of Gaza homes, after admitting he refused to follow orders
TEL AVIV – IDF corporal Avi Beiber, who three weeks ago refused to take part in an operation to secure the razing of deserted Gaza Strip structures, was retried and sent to another 28 days in military prison for refusing an order.
Beiber was originally sentenced to 56 days in jail but last week the army decided to cut his sentence by half due to a flawed legal procedure. At that time, it was decided that Beiber would have to be retried for refusing an order.
After hearing testimony from soldiers, commanders, and a civilian who were present at the scene at the time of the incident, and after Beiber himself admitted he refused to follow an order, he was reconvicted and sent to another 28 days in jail.
The soldier is currently serving a 28-day sentence for insulting a commander. Once he is out of military prison, his future as an IDF combat soldier would be reconsidered.
‘Army won’t tolerate such conduct’
The affair began during an operation to raze deserted structures in the southern Gaza Strip. During the operation, Beiber yelled out “A Jew doesn’t expel a Jew,” removed his helmet, and refused to carry out his mission, namely securing the operation.
Beiber’s commanders promptly took away his weapon and removed him from the area. Following the incident, IDF Gaza commander Aviv Kochavi said the army “would not tolerate such conduct under any circumstances.”
Later, Ynet reported that the battalion commander reprimanded 12 soldiers from the same company after they threatened not to take part in similar missions in the future.
“Aside from Avi (Beiber,) there was one soldier who simply cried because it was difficult for him,” a soldier in the company said at the time.
Other troops told the battalion commander they would have difficulty functioning in future operations and could just walk away from the area.
