command responsible-from the harassing soldier at the checkpoint up to the chief of staff. This means that the harassment is a policy. A policy designed to break the population, to turn their life into hell and induce them to leave the country. And also to teach the soldiers to treat the "locals" like dirt.
There is another interpretation, and it is no less grave: that there is no such policy. This means that the discipline in the army has broken down, that the command at all levels has lost control. Not an army anymore, but a lawless militia.
That would hardly be surprising, of course. One cannot employ an army for dozens of years as an oppressive, colonial police force without causing a breakdown of discipline. One cannot demand that soldiers stick to the truth in their reports when they hear every day the reports of the above-mentioned IDFL ("killed while trying to escape," "tried to run the soldiers over," "were compelled to shoot when their life was in danger," "cursed the soldiers," "tried to wrest the gun from the hands of the soldier," and similar routine untruths). One cannot expect a soldier who harasses venerable old men and respectable women in the occupied territories to behave like a quiet, courteous boy in a Haifa discotheque or to treat his wife and children decently. One cannot expect a soldier who for years has been a hero confronting women and children to be a hero against tanks and artillery on a future battlefield.
Every year, when the generals want to extract several billions more from the public treasury, they tell us that any moment now a major war may break out. Syria, Iraq, Iran, jointly or separately, are going to throw missiles at us full of bacteria or poison gas, and only a strong and sophisticated Israeli army will save us. The same army that has trained for years at the checkpoints.
There was another picture on TV the other day: Micky Levi,
commander of the Jerusalem police, was seen quarreling with an Arab woman. Suddenly he struck out with his fist. It looked like a powerful blow. But the camera was located behind him and could not see where the fist landed. On her belly? Her breast? Or did he miss altogether and hit the air?
The IPL (Israel Police Liar, a younger brother of his army colleague) gave some silly explanation. But there is no better witness than one's own eyes. The district police commander, an officer with the rank of general, used his fist while arguing with a woman.
There was no public outcry. Neither in the media, nor in the Knesset, nor in the cabinet. After all, who wants to quarrel with the police?