Officers in the Israel Defense Forces are living in illegal settler outposts in the West Bank, and the army is considering ordering them to move out, Haaretz reports Sunday morning.
Is this normal? I mean does a normal country allow the elite in their military to engage in illegal activities in their spare time? Does a normal country just "consider" ordering them to stop their illegal activities?
The army's lack of response just undermines its credibility as a force maintaining law and order and fighting terror. Remember, these officers face situations in which they must decide how to act toward Palestinians.
If they set up illegal settler outposts in their civilian life, do they respect the human rights of Palestinians in their day job?
Do the soldiers serving under these officers not know that their superiors are living in illegal outposts? Of course they know.
But we're a moral army, not an occupying one, right? We're in the territories only because we must fight terror.
If the soldiers were using drugs in their free time they would have been kicked out long ago. But when it comes to the illegal settlement outposts, army policy gets a little wishy-washy.
Credibility. That's the issue here. And the IDF brass just doesn't understand situations like this destroy the army's credibility. Big time. And rightfully so.
