Eishton, the blogger who was recently interrogated and asked to give up sources, is offering authorities an interesting deal: if the army releases all the information that it says is “out in the open” on soldier deaths – Eishton will confess to all charges brought in his interrogation, and will agree to sit in prison.
The interrogation of the anonymous blogger was conducted due to a series of posts he published, examining who exactly are the 126 soldiers who “died while protecting their country” between April 2011-2012, as officially pronounced on Memorial Day. Following thorough research and thanks to a leak from within the system, Eiston exposed that only three soldiers were actually killed in the line of duty, while others committed suicide, were involved in accidents or died of illness, and in many cases – did not even die in the year in question but several years before.
Following the interrogation and the journalistic interest it attracted, and after army spokespeople declared that information was out in the open, Eishton published a challenge to authorities last night on his Facebook account:
I keep being interrogated for minor technical felonies, and even if you don’t agree with the way I worked you must see the difference between the ‘felony’ I allegedly committed and the outrage and lack of information on the side of the state.
It is now Monday, 24.12.12, 21:30, seven months after Memorial Day, when you declared there were 126 fallen soldiers. Take 24 hours. If by tomorrow evening you release a list with 126 names, dates and causes of death, commit to releasing the lists regarding the fallen since 1948 within a week and release a statement by the Ministry of Defense saying that from now on you will release all lists – I shall admit to the charges brought against me and sit in prison without filing an appeal (although I am not guilty). I swear by my word.
I shall go to prison, the information goes free – seems like a fair price to me.
Update, 25.12, 23:00: So far authorities have not responded to Eishton’s offer and did not publish the full list of names and causes of death of the 126 fallen soldiers, thus failing to meet his deadline. Eishton says on his Facebook page that he continues calling upon the army to publish the lists
Update 2, 27.12.: The army on Wednesday published figures on the numbers of IDF suicides that took place in recent years. Eishton emphasized in a response that it wasn’t figures he demanded, but rather the identities of the 126 fallen soldiers, and their causes of death. It could be said that the response of the army, and their reception by the media as a victory for Eishton, are effectively a distraction from the blogger’s main questions mourning and commemoration in Israel.
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Blogger interrogated, asked to give up army source