Watch: IDF soldier lashes out at activists
Activists film reserve soldier on south Mount Hebron as he curses, threatens them; 'incident does not reflect behavior expected of security forces, proper measures will be taken'
A video released Saturday features a soldier lashing out at activists at south Mount Hebron, calling them "enemies of Israel" and threatening them.
In the video, the soldier is seen approaching a group of Palestinian shepherds near the settlement of Otniel, and yelling at one of them in Arabic to watch himself. He later asked for the shepherd's name, at which point the person behind the camera, an activist with the Ta'ayush organization, asked the soldiers to stop yelling.
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"You, shut up," the soldier replied, adding "enemies of Israel; get out of here. I will punch you in the head."
Another soldier tried to block the camera's lens, while the slurs in the background continued: "You're worse than the Arabs… get out of here."
Before his friends managed to pull him away from the scene, the soldier told a woman with the activist group "You shut up, enemy of Israel, Arab lover."
Guy, a Ta'ayush activist, told Ynet that "the soldier arrived and tried to chase the shepherds away. I told him to stop yelling and he lashed out at me."
According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, "Leftwing activists gathered near Otniel. While security forces were trying to disperse them, a reserve unit and an activist confronted each other. Following the release of the video, the IDF will question the reservist about the incident and the proper measures will be taken. In general, this incident does not reflect the behavior expected of security forces and the issue will be clarified."
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