About four months after the incident that sparked an international uproar, in which a soldier put a CNN cameraman in a chokehold while the network was covering an outpost, the IDF spokesperson announced Wednesday that the soldier had received a command reprimand. In the IDF statement, the military said the Military Advocate General’s Corps had ordered that the soldier, who expressed remorse for his actions, be brought before a disciplinary proceeding.
The footage published by CNN that sparked an uproar:
The Military Police opened an investigation into the incident, which took place in late March near the village of Tayasir. After the investigation was completed, the findings were transferred for review by the Military Advocate General’s Corps. The IDF noted that the investigation found that during the encounter between the soldiers and the broadcast crew in the area, “an IDF force at the scene acted while one of the soldiers used physical force against the cameraman from the media outlet.”
After the incident, the IDF decided to suspend all operational activity by the 941st reserve battalion, “Netzah Yisrael,” made up of graduates of Netzah Yehuda. At the same time, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed that he be presented as soon as possible with the main findings of the inquiry being conducted into the incident, along with command recommendations. In addition, the IDF decided to remove the soldier who spoke about “revenge.”
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The soldier expressed remorse - and was reprimanded by the commander
(Photo: From the X platform)
The incident occurred while a team from the American broadcaster CNN was covering the illegal takeover by settlers of nearby land. Part of the incident was documented by those present and, according to previous reports, the soldiers acted to stop the journalists from working, aimed weapons at them, and one of them put the cameraman in a chokehold and damaged his equipment. In the exchange that developed between them, the soldiers said that all of the West Bank belongs to the Jews, and that they wanted revenge for the death of Yehuda Sherman, who police said was murdered in a car-ramming attack the previous Saturday.
One of the soldiers aimed his weapon directly at them and shouted: “Stop! Sit! Sit!” Later a soldier approached CNN cameraman Cyril Theophilos, choked him and threw him to the ground. Journalists and Palestinians who were in the area were detained by the soldiers.
(Photo: From the X platform)
A soldier who identified himself as “Meir” declared that the outpost he was protecting was illegal under Israeli law, “but it will be a legal community, slowly, slowly.” When asked whether he was helping make that happen, he replied: “Of course. I am helping my people.”
According to the report at the time, the soldier explained to the journalists how the settlers’ method works: establishing outposts on Palestinian land, relying on protection provided by IDF soldiers or on their nonintervention, and eventually receiving a government order legalizing the outpost.
Meir and the soldier who attacked the cameraman described all Palestinians as terrorists and spoke about revenge. “If you had a brother and they killed him, what would you do?” one of them said, referring to Sherman. Asked whether it was legitimate for soldiers to take revenge, he answered: “At the end of the day, if the state does not deal with what those who murdered the boy did, what do you expect us to do?”