israeli soldiers

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi during a tour near the border with Lebanon, northern Israel, March 16, 2023. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Israel’s security brass are defending the High Court to save themselves

Israel's top court has consistently shielded soldiers from standing trial. Now they fear the judicial overhaul could expose them to prosecution overseas.

By Sebastian Ben Daniel (John Brown) September 11, 2023

Israeli border policemen violently arrest a Palestinian protester during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters in north Ramallah, near the Beit El checkpoint, occupied West Bank, December 22, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

The odds of a violent Israeli soldier facing charges? Under 1 percent

New data shows how the Israeli army's complaints mechanism serves as a facade of accountability when it comes to soldiers who harm Palestinians.

By Dan Owen December 29, 2022

An Israeli Border Police officer points his weapon at journalists and Palestinian paramedics during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters in north Ramallah, near the Beit El checkpoint, occupied West Bank, December 22, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

The rebellion of Israel’s second army

Outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi hands over to his successor a ‘policing army’ that is more autonomous, settler-led, and lethal than ever.

By Yagil Levy December 26, 2022

Latest

An Israeli soldier aims a rifle loaded with rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes in Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, November 29, 2013. This day's clashes followed several days of confrontations after the killing of three Palestinian militants by Israeli forces in Yatta. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

The only way to ensure Palestinian lives matter

The IDF’s decision not to charge Abed Fatah al-Sharif’s killer with murder should not surprise anybody — it is entirely consistent with the impunity Israeli security personnel have enjoyed for decades when it comes to killing Palestinians. The Israeli army’s Military Advocate General on Thursday announced that it will not seek murder charges against a…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man March 31, 2016

File photo of masked Israeli soldiers in Hebron. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Why exposing the Hebron murder benefits Israelis

Both the Israeli Right and Left need ‘rotten apples’ like the Hebron shooter in order to justify their Orwellian worldview. I waited and waited. Abed Fatah al-Sharif is his name. Not “the Palestinian” or “the terrorist.” I waited and waited for one of Israel’s major media outlets — not including tabloids such as Israel Hayom,…

By Rami Younis March 28, 2016

An Israeli soldier aims a rifle loaded with rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes in Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, November 29, 2013. This day's clashes followed several days of confrontations after the killing of three Palestinian militants by Israeli forces in Yatta. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

The army prefers to indict soldiers who loot — not those who kill

Why does the the IDF indict soldiers far more often for property-related crimes, while closing cases in which soldiers are suspected of wounding or killing Palestinians? By Yossi Gurvitz, written for Yesh Din In 2014, a total of 15 Israeli soldiers were indicted for harming Palestinians, as can be seen by our latest data sheet…

By +972 Magazine December 15, 2015

A public reading of Breaking the Silence testimonies in Tel Aviv to mark 10 years since the organization was founded, June 6, 2014. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Why do so many Israelis hate Breaking the Silence?

The organization of former Israeli soldiers is coming under attack from every direction these days — from the Israel’s president to the defense minister to the police. So what’s the deal? Breaking the Silence is a Jewish organization made up of former Israeli soldiers, most of whom served in combat roles. All they want to do…

By Haggai Matar December 14, 2015

File photo of an Israeli soldier directing a tank. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

How an alleged war crime goes away — and resurfaces a year later

Nobody really noticed the deliberate shelling of a Palestinian medical clinic, even when it was reported in real time during Israel’s war in Gaza last summer. Now, because of reporting by an independent journalist, there is a chance that somebody will be held accountable for what a rights group says is a clear-cut war crime.…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man June 2, 2015

An Israeli soldiers walk next to a tank in the Gaza Strip during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge. (Courtesy of Breaking the Silence)

Redefining civilians and legitimate targets: Israeli soldiers testify on Gaza war

Two themes are present in almost all of the 60-plus testimonies collected by Breaking the Silence from Israeli soldiers who fought in the last Gaza war: loose rules of engagement and systematic, wanton destruction. But can the new documentation serve as a catalyst for change inside Israel? Internationally? By Mairav Zonszein and Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man May 4, 2015

Israeli soldiers speak to an Israeli activist during a party at a recently-demolished settlement outpost near Hebron. (screenshot)

WATCH: Israeli soldiers party in demolished settlement outpost

The Givat Sorek outpost, built on private Palestinian land, was destroyed by Israeli soldiers just a week ago. Now it has become an area for soldiers to relax and barbecue. Soldiers from the Golani Brigade were filmed relaxing and barbecuing in an illegal settlement outpost near Hebron on Tuesday. The outpost was destroyed just a…

By Haggai Matar April 8, 2015

Hundreds participated at the funeral of Ali Safi in Jalazun refugee camp near Ramallah, March 26, 2015. By: Ahmad al-Bazz / Activestills.org

PHOTOS: Hundreds mourn Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli soldiers

By: Ahmad al Bazz / Activestills.org Hundreds of Palestinians gathered to take part in the funeral of Ali Safi in the Jalazun refugee camp near Ramallah Thursday. Safi, 18, was shot with live bullets by Israeli soldiers during clashes near the refugee camp on Wednesday, March 18. He was taken to a hospital in Ramallah…

By Activestills March 26, 2015

An Israeli soldier watches a Palestinian woman while she harvests olives in Salem village, near Nablus, West Bank, October 9, 2014.

PHOTOS: Palestinians watch harvest season disappear before their eyes

In the village of Salem, as elsewhere in the West Bank, Palestinians are forced to harvest their olives according to the whims and restrictions of Israeli authorities. Photos and text by: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org As every year in October, Palestinian families in the West Bank head to their groves in order to begin the olive harvest…

By Activestills October 18, 2014

Mother (left) of Jihad Issam Shuhaibar (8), and Wasim Issam Shuhaibar (7), two of the children killed in an Israeli airstrike on in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, is comforted by a relative in al-Shifa hospital, July 17, 2014. The third victim of the airstrike that hit children while they were playing on the roof of their house, was their cousin 10-year-old Afnan Tariq Shuhaibar. The airstrikes came immediately after a temporary five-hour humanitarian ceasefire between Hamas and Israel ended. As of July 17th, 237 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the Israeli military operation against the Gaza Strip, including 48 children, and more than 1,700 have been injured. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Five Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza; Palestinian death toll hits 1,088

As world leaders attempted to, once more, broker a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Monday, the IDF announced that five Israeli soldiers were killed over the course of the day. Four of them were killed by mortar shell fire near the border with Gaza, while a fifth was killed in clashes with Hamas…

By Edo Konrad July 29, 2014