Culture  Yair Lapid
The (dis)honorable Sgt. Dayan
Yair Lapid
Published: 18.05.06, 15:19
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1. Amen!
jerry ,   TA   (05.18.06)
Although I typically don't agree with Lapid, he is 100% right about this former soldier and his kind.... He should have never accepted the award from an army that he does not respect enough to shake the hand of its leader....he embarrassed the unit that selected him.
2. Good point.
Ron ,   New York   (05.18.06)
3. Shameful?
Gadi   (05.18.06)
The only thing shameful is this despicable article. It is merely a demagogic tirade against the so-called "settlers." Lapid's bias is evident from the subtitle where he calls these Jews "spoiled settler brats." Now let's look at the facts: 1) Dayan won an honor for being an outstanding soldier -- his company chose him for his merits. 2) Dayan followed military protocol by saluting Halutz, something that certainly must have been difficult for him personally -- he did it anyway because that was his duty. Shaking Halutz's hand was perhaps expected, but it is not technically mandatory. 3) Dayan's elderly and sick (terminally ill) grandfather had his home destroyed by the order of Halutz. While the proximate cause may have been cancer, the extra stress this event caused in his life certainly did not help, and could very well have speeded up the process of killing him. Even if it hadn't however, if someone was responsible for demolishing your (yes, I'm talking to you readers out there) grandfather's house, would you agree to shake his hand? If you answered yes, you are either a liar or you do not truly care for your grandfather. 4) The old war story is a good one and it shows an example of the legendary bravery of our soldiers decades ago. Back then the IDF had moral standards and fought solely for the protection of Jews. Now it does not. Now the IDF is instrumental in forcefully expelling Jews from their homes and handing over parts of Israel to the sworn enemies of the state and of the Jewish people. 5) The old veteran should be commended for his service to the country back when he was a soldier. Today however, he is a doddering old man who is simply irrelevant -- he is in no position to decide who is honorable or not (any more than myself or anyone else); the brigade selected Dayan for a reason - They obviously felt he deserved the award. The rhetorical power of the Tzvika story is therefore great, but it is a fraud. 6) Many religious Zionists also celebrate Israel's Independence Day, and have been doing so for years, even though the state consistently violates their strongly held beliefs. The state is by no means religious, and yet these people still pay their share of the tax burden. It is not only the secular leftists that put up with policies they don't like. 7) Everyone has (or should have) a right to protest the government's policies in a democracy. Lapid seems to want to stifle such protest. 8) "Nobody really wants to do reserve duty at checkpoints" is a valid point. Why not focus on the real enemies here, namely the ones who cause there to be checkpoints in the first place (the Arabs and their terrorism), rather than on fellow Jews? Seems to be sinat chinam here. 9) On that note, Lapid blatantly ignores another group of nonconformists -- the Leftists. These people protest government policies more viciously and more violently than the right wingers on which Lapid focuses his tirade. They harass soldiers at checkpoints (machsom watch), they attack soldiers near the fence, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Lapid seems to be ignoring these people because he likes to attack the nationalist camp instead. So basically, this article is a piece of trash. Shameful indeed.
4. Did he ever file that high court petition?
Steve ,   USA   (05.18.06)
B"H I hope for some news occassionally in the news section! As for the handshake, I do see it as embarrasing. Even so, there is no IDF regulation on shaking hands, so it is outside the scope of mandated conduct. When the military is more involved in pomp than defending Jewish property, why expect soldiers to operate outside of military code? I do not think this soldier was a brat at all. He has a very confusing situation where code says one thing and power says the other, and he is being forced to ignore the written law and just do whatever makes the powerful look good. This is a situation that deserves protest, and all forms of protest, so-called "democratic" or not have been quelled, either through police action or out-of-court dismissals like this one even for the civilians. In short, this is truly a political act of the establishment to show that there is not democracy with real rights, but rather an oligarchy that rules Israel under the cover of nice written rules that really are totally ignored in practice.
5. simpleton
RobertK ,   Jerusalem   (05.18.06)
Lapid in this article is simple-minded and abusive and is trying to direct hatred at an imaginary category of people, conflating haredim most of whom don't serve at all with national-religious right-wingers who now volunteer to be officers and elite soldiers at far higher percentages than secular soldiers. The fact that Hananel's grandfather already had cancer does not mean his heart could not have broken by the evacuation of settlements. It does not take huge psychological genius to understand this--the emotioanl trauma exacerbated his condition. Lapid represents a blind "us-them" mentality that thinks if one part of Israeli Jews attacks another part by throwing them out of their homes, the Arabs and Europeans will clap and cheer and will finally love us. Instead it would be better if he could listen to what Hananel is saying. Yes, we want as much unity as possible, to live and serve in the army together. We cannot do it if one part of the population starts transferring another part from their homes. Lapid should stop and think for a minute that the people he wants to transfer love their communities as much as he loves Tel Aviv, which no one (in Israel, that is) is threatening to destroy.
6. Well said Yair!
Mike ,   Rishon le Zion   (05.18.06)
A very pertinent article. Indeed we should be wary of these types. Let's hope they grow up and get some sense into their wooly heads.
7. Yair Lapid's Hatred is Disgusting
J ,   Efrat Israel   (05.18.06)
How does Ynet let this guy wirte such inciteful hatred of his fellow citizens. Ynet has no integrity to publish this garbage. You have lost another viewer!
8. Lapid the horrible
Leo ,   Israel   (05.18.06)
"the miserable Hananel," "The savvy Hananel," 'Hananel the shameful," "this imbecile Hananel," "This jerk" Hananel "Hananel the horrible," miss anything? Get a grip, Lapid. In that long, rambling and irrational rant of, you basically invite readers to learn more about you and your state of mind rather than that of Hananel. As a Jew who lived in the former USSR and experienced Soviet propaganda at first hand, I must say that you will make an excellent writer for that well known Soviet rag "Pravda." One would almost think that you were describing Ghengis Khan or Pol pot, considering all those ephitets that you threw around at this young soldier. The great Baal Shem Tov once said that if you see a certain aspect,(a fault or precieved fault) of another person that happens to really bother you, than usually its just a reflection of your own fault. In your case, the reflection coming from the precieved fault that you see in this soldier, needs to be mulitplied by 1000. There is nothing honorouble in serving in an army that ethnically cleanses Jews and puts Israel in fatal danger, let alone supporting that army/goernment like you do, - Lapid the shameful, Lapid the dishonourable, Lapid the horrible.
9. Yair is off on a tantrum
Yisraeli   (05.18.06)
Youve got this so wrong, but then hey it suits your politics so why not go off on a tantrum about it. Youve been insulted as if he wouldnt shake your hand and guess what your right because you the chief of staff, much of the Gov and many in our sick and disallusioned left of the political spectrum have been shown by this 1 little soldier as unworthy of any respect other then what is required by law namely the command to have to salute a superior officer nothing about having to have to shake his guilty hands too. I notice too, of course you make no mention of lefties refusing to serve in the army all you do is to attempt to insult a whole public sector like when you mention and I quote "I am referring to the folks who boycott Independence Day when the government doesn’t do what they want. And the ones who refuse compulsory army service, and no longer recite the celebratory Hallel prayer in honor of this country and the guys who threw two lit Molotov cocktails at soldiers and border police in Hebron and the kids who want to establish their independent State of Judah." Yair my brother somehow I feel that had this soldier been a druze or bedouin with the same greviences you would have jumped to his defence saying theres no rule in the army where a soldier is obligated to shake hands. But ahh this soldier so filled the profile of all that you despise of a major segment of our people. But guess what? They are the future, your not, they grow stronger all the time your sector gets weaker and leaves the country while theyres come in planeloads. Your so called Zionism ended with Oslo and buried in Gush Katif. Thats why you have no future for you no longer have any ideology to defend. And the current Government will definately be one of the LAST of its kind. The future looks much different and this soldier has the future whereas your a relic of the past, just like the old communist kibbutzim, just wait and see. It will come about after the coming major war that all your ilk has brought on by appeasement. Its a coming theres no avoiding whats coming. The 'Orange' public IS the future. Whereas Los Angeles awaits you.
10. Yair was given it all from Dad....
Ilan ,   Ariel   (05.18.06)
His father fixed it for him so that he had a non-job job in the army and then paved his way into the media elite. So who is the spoiled brat?
11. disgrace
Irit ,   Tel Aviv, Israel   (05.18.06)
I think the 30 +/- IAF soldiers who raped a minor is much much more of a disgrace, concern and big deal
12. Great article
Ace ,   Herzliya, Israel   (05.18.06)
This is a great article and so true!! If he was disgusted with what the army did why does he want in again??? He should be kicked out!!
13. Agreed - Dyan is a little sh_t....and all this talk
Andy   (05.18.06)
about heroism is such a load of CRAP. Pack your dubon, buddy.
14. HANANEL IS NO BRAT
mendy ,   brooklyn ny usa   (05.18.06)
BS''D You mist the fact that his family was expelled from gush katif. put your-self in his shoes. nobody ssaid it was an decision.
15. Name-calling - The lowest form of journalism
Reuven Brauner ,   Raanana, Israel   (05.18.06)
Note how many negative terms Mr. Lapid applies to Mr. Dayan in this one article: 1. dishonorable 2. snubbing 3. no hero 4. spoiled brat 5. miserable 6. "savvy" (sarcastically) 7. "no sucker" (sarcastically) (and this is only up to the end of the first paragraph!) 8. unruly 9. imbecile 10. "the horrible" 11. jerk 12. "the nutty" 13. "the muddled" 14. "the irrelevant" 15. "a nervous guy (not blessed) with an excess of common sense" 16. (not) "the best and brightest" 17. spoiled brat - again 18. "the shameful". Ay yay yay! Poor Mr. Lapid. Our sages have said "Kol Haposeil, b'mumo poseil" which translates roughly as "a peson delegitimizes someone else (by finding some defect in him) does so with the very defect he himself has." Or in more common language, "it takes one to know one".
16. important insight
avramele   (05.18.06)
This article raises the most critical point: when one is in uniform one represents the state and the IDF not one's own political point of view. Even more so when the soldier was chosen by his unit (which eventually discharged him). Did he let his fellows know that he would insult and snub the head of IDF? During the Lebanon war many who served honorably and without question on the front used their free time to demonstrate against the war. Both were their duty -- one as a soldier, one as a citizen.
17. Why Yair is bent out of shape
sk ,   USA   (05.18.06)
I have said before that Lapid, in personifying militant mediocrity, facilitates the rot of the New Jew and his state. For my take on this general theme, see, for example, #38 on http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3212001,00.html Here Yair shows himself yet again as neither a writer nor a thinker. All he does is string together language like "imbecile," "nutty," and so on, situating such language in a laughably one-sided view of the Dayan "handshaking incident." Essayists are supposed to have opinions, but they are supposed to base them on evidence, and they are responsible for making this evidence available to readers. Yair doesn't bother to consider contrary evidence or the views of those who disagree with him. Amusingly, he now refers feelingly (in the abstract) to victims of the Gaza expulsion (which he firmly supported), saying "Theirs is a true human and Zionist tragedy, and the protracted handling of their situation doesn’t place us in the most favorable light." But, when confronted by one such real, individual victim, he can do nothing more than call him names and act as a conduit for the Merlot government's spin. But why is Lapid so enraged? Consider what Feiglin says about the Dayan incident: "On the surface, why would the powerful IDF care if one simple soldier is willing or unwilling to shake hands with the Chief of Staff? . . . But in the case of Chananel Dayan, one simple soldier out of one hundred who slightly strays from the protocol of the ceremony sends the entire army and the entire country into frenzy. Why?" "A familiar scene in movies about the mafia is the ceremonial funeral in the church. Everybody comes in their de rigueur black clothing to pay their last respects to the hapless victim of the latest hit. The crying widow is there, the sad orphans, the mafia don and last but not least -- solemn and respectful -- the hit man ordered by the don to get the victim out of his way. The widow and orphans know who the hit man is. But they follow the rules and keep to their role of mournful loved ones. No anger, no moral questions asked. The very presence of the bereaved family at the funeral awards the "victim's validation" to the entire farce. For the don, this validation is invaluable. It is the solid foundation of the lie -- the weight that prevents it from floating up to the top of the water. Every mafia needs moral legitimacy. In exchange for his validation, the victim will be assured his relative comfort -- at least until the next time he irritates the don." "Chananel is not needed to perform the next expulsion. Physically, all that is needed are brawny riot police. But Chananel is needed to lend legitimacy to the system and to validate the don. The don is not stupid. He will not send Chananel to expel his parents from their home. All he needs is for Chananel to be part of the game, even a passive part of the game." I think Feiglin is right, and I think Lapid's fury is fully explained in the same way. Readers of Ynet have no doubt already seen many Talkbacks about this incident. There are real disagreements there. Any one of those discussions, taken as a whole, is vastly more impressive than Yair’s pool of ad hominem vomit.
18. Ehud Olmert's kids: spoiled secular brats
Kyle ,   Southpark, CO, USA   (05.18.06)
Hananel Dayan performed his service, served honorably in a combat unit, and was "made an example" pour encourager les autres over a trivial breach of ceremonial ritual. Meanwhile, Olmert's draft-dodging kids scampered off to hutz laaretz, and old Olmert himself never saw combat, but sat on his tush as a putz jobnick writing the company newsletter.
19. Who is dishonorable?
Yair Lapid ,   is just like Tommy   (05.18.06)
Where is the outrage over the non-religious, non-settler soldiers who gang-raped a 14-year-old? Are they more "honorable" than a young man who served valiantly? Apparently they are, to Tommy jr.
20. IDF soldiers gang rape a 14 year old
Double ,   Standards   (05.18.06)
And Yair says nothing about it. Boys will be boys, right Yair?
21. He was an exemplary soldier
YNet is censoring ,   talkbacks   (05.18.06)
Even Yair admits "He was an exemplary soldier" or he would not have been at this ceremony to begin with. He saluted the General as required by military etiquette. He refused to shake his hand offered in fake "fellowship" and now Yair is screaming bloody murder. Shame on Halutz, shame on Yair for creating a new class of scapegoat in Israel.
22. At least he serves in the army
Ed ,   Columbus, Ohio   (05.18.06)
How would you feel if you had to serve in an army that ripped your family and friends out of their homes. Atleast he fights for our country, not like those leftists who desert.
23. Another Left Wing Brat
Sam Weinstein ,   USA   (05.18.06)
Another comment from a Left Wing spoiled Brat
24. Hipocrite
Raphael C ,   Montreal   (05.18.06)
Free speech is only good when it suits your agenda, Mr Lapid. You kick out people from their own homes without a penny for compensation, then you call tem "spoilled bratts" when they protest. This is your democracy?
25. Spoilt? You're hilarious!
Cee ,   C and sun   (05.18.06)
Do you remembr the REAL ghastly spoilt , bored, awful brats you defended a couple of weeks ago? The ones that caused a DEATH by overturning in their little bimba? In Herzliya P? And that poor lawyer friend of yours so traumatised by having killed an innocent mother and little son? That was just to show us that you mix with these people, Dawinnim I think it's called here. Well, Chananel SPOILT, don't make me laugh Mr Lapid.
26. YES!! oh baby yes!!!!!!
Talula Belle ,   Israel   (05.18.06)
Yair, I absolutely LOVE you to bits for this article. Well done!!!!. You have said everything that needed to be said about this issue. You've done us proud. His behaviour was indeed shameful, and even more so that he took the money and the award. Nevermind, it was taken back, HE STILL TOOK IT! The IDF are well rid of the jumped up snotty nosed little brat.
27. Every word
yakov shani ,   Israel   (05.18.06)
a shining diamond. The El will certainly not hanan this one.
28. Reminder
Michael   (05.18.06)
there were plenty of leftists who objected to serving in the west bank. I think that is even more dangerous. This soldier didn't endanger a fellow soldier by not serving. He protested in a silent and dignified manner. Unfortunately, if you don't follow the leftist's bankrupt idealogy. then your a brat. Well, i guess Israel has alot of brats.
29. Nazis only follow orders- good soldiers think first
Dani ,   Tel Aviv   (05.18.06)
And there's a reason why Sgt. Dayan was recognized by his commanders as the top soldier in the tank corp- because he is.
30. To Mr. Lapid
Josh ,   Jerusalem   (05.18.06)
I agree that what Hananel did was not right and that it only hurts the IDF by inciting disunity and disloyalty, things that cannot exist in an army. But instead of keeping your article on the moral level of right and wrong, you childishly call Hananel miserable, horrible, jerk, nutty, muddled, irreverent, spoiled brat and shameful. You also let your intolerant anti-religious, anti-Zionist disdain slip through between the lines. You have no understanding of anybody else except your own ilk of latte drinking, cynical Shenkenians who think Zionism is a curse word. You have the right to voice your opinion, but when you start calling names, it just reflects your own insecurities. Grow up Yair, it's people like you who are ruining our country. p.s.- I'm not religious and I don't agree with the current behaviour of the settlers, but I don't have contempt for them. I understand what what they're going through and wish them all the best.
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