“…In training you learn that white phosphorus is not used, and you’re
taught that it’s not humane. You watch lms and see what it does to people
who are hit, and you say, “There, we’re doing it too.” That’s not what Iexpected to see. Until that moment I had thought that I belonged to themost humane army in the world, I knew that even in the West Bank, whenwe go into a neighborhood, we do it quietly so that people won’t see us,butalso in order not to disturb them, no less. An IDF soldier does not shootfor the sake of shooting nor does he apply excessive force beyond the call
of the mission he is to perform. We saw the planes ying out and you see
from which building the rocket is launched against Israel and you see thefour houses surrounding that building collapsing as soon as the air forcebombs. I don’t know if it was white phosphorus or not, and I don’t reallycare that much, but whole neighborhoods were simply razedbecause four houses in the area served to launch Qassam rockets...”
Breaking the Silence
Soldiers’ Testimonies from Operation Cast Lead, Gaza 2009
Breaking the Silence
is an organization of veterans who served in the Israelimilitary during the Second Intifada (since September 2000) and have takenit upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the routine situations of
everyday life in the Occupied Territories, a reality that is not reected in the
media. This alternative information conduit makes the daily goings-on inIsrael’s back yard accessible to the public at large.
Breaking the Silence
came into being in March 2004, and has since acquireda special standing for the public and in the media, bringing forth the voices ofsoldiers who had previously remained silent.
Breaking the Silence
aims ultimately to stimulate public debate about themoral price that Israeli society as a whole has been paying for a reality in whichyoung soldiers face a civilian population on an everyday basis and control itslife. All the testimonies we publish undergo meticulous research, includingcross-checking facts with additional eye-witnesses and/or the archives of
other human rights organizations which are also active in the eld.
True to our journalistic effort, the identity of our sources is not exposed
and remains condential. The testimonies published here are unedited and
presented in their original form, except for details that are withheld in order
to conceal the identity of specic testimony-bearers, and/or clarications of
military jargon.Printed in Jerusalem, June 2009
www.breakingthesilence.org.il
OperatiOn Cast Lead
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TesTimony 36 - RaBBinaTe uniT for Israeli Veterans Give Testimony
Testimony from Israeli Soldiers as to what occurs in the war with Palestine.
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