'IDF wants obedience, not war criminals'
Soldiers who took part in Gaza operation amazed to hear of trial of Givati soldier suspected of killing mother, daughter
More than a year and a half has passed since Operation Cast Lead but the repercussions of the war on Gaza are coming to a head only now, with the expected trial of a Givati soldier who shot and killed two Palestinians – a mother and her daughter.
Following Ynet's publication of details from the indictment for manslaughter, Colonel (res.) Pnina Sharbit-Baruch said, "Every soldier knows what is permitted and what is forbidden in time of war, and knows that if he violates orders he is liable to stand trial."
Sharbit-Baruch served as head of the international law department of the Chief Military Advocacy during Operation Cast Lead. She told Ynet that IDF soldiers must be aware of the possible repercussions of their acts even in the midst of battle, and that the last thing the army wants is war criminals in military uniform.
"Harming innocent civilians even in war is contrary to military interests," she said. "The army expects soldiers to follow orders and not to carry out war crimes such as killing demonstrators."
Sharbit-Baruch said she is not familiar with all the details of the case. "I can say in a case where the soldier shows he was in a life-threatening situation or was simply negligent in carrying out orders, there is no reason to charge him with such a serious charge as manslaughter," she said. "Therefore I suppose that if the prosecution intends to charge him with manslaughter, it has well-founded evidence for it."
The senior lawyer, who stirred up a storm at Tel Aviv University when she supported the Gaza operation in a lecture, noted that there were cases even during the second Intifada in which soldiers stood trial after harming innocent civilians.
'State should stand by us'
Many combat soldiers who took part in the operation were enraged by the indictment. Some claim the State should stand at their side, and not open the way for serious accusations.
"The population was forbidden to go into the streets during the fighting, and there was even a clear directive that anyone going out would be responsible for his own fate," said Yair Bloch (29) who fought in the Jabaliya and Sajaiya area.
"Throughout my army service, I never heard of any case in which a soldier fired without reason, without being in danger," Bloch said. "I believe, based on past cases, that the B'Tselem report was mistaken, and that its sole aim was to blacken the name of IDF soldiers."
Bloch emphasized that if it is proven that the soldier did indeed shoot at innocent civilians, he should stand trial. "But I want to stress that war has its own rules, and in some battles things like this happen," he added. "To the best of my knowledge, the population was forbidden to go into the streets… so I think that if they try him, the punishment should be very mild."
Yossi (28), from the center of the country, took part in Operation Cast Lead as a reservist fighting near Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
"As a citizen who served both as a regular soldier and as a reservist, I expect the State that sent me and my comrades to fight in the Gaza Strip to back us up, even when there are serious accusations as in this case," he said.
Yossi also has a hard time believing that the soldier fired arbitrarily without reason.
"I imagine he fired because he felt himself to be in a life-threatening situation," he said. "It must be remembered that a battle is an extreme situation in which it is not always possible to wait for the order to fire. There may be a situation in which enemies approach the forces and only one soldier sees them, and he is forced to act immediately."
"During my regular service, I saw terrorists hiding behind children in a number of cases, and in such cases we did fire at them, making every effort to avoid harming innocents," he said.
"If what they suspect happened did indeed happen, and he fired at innocents without reason, he must pay the price," he added.
