The Israel Defense Force has dishonorably discharged an army officer who was in command of an IDF outpost in southern Lebanon that was almost overrun by Hezbollah guerrillas last month.
Lt. Gen. Ehud Barak ordered that Lt. Maor Binyamini be dismissed for what he described as “behavior under fire unbecoming of an officer.”
Barak also ordered that Binyamini not be assigned to any command role again.
Binyamini is one of two Israeli army officers and five soldiers facing disciplinary action for their behavior during a Hezbollah attack launched against the Israeli position on Oct. 29.
An Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Almog Klein, was killed during the attack when a mortar shell fell next to the position where he was standing guard. Two other Israeli soldiers were wounded.
Two of the soldiers involved in the incident are already serving 25 and 28 days of detention in a military stockade. An investigation into the affair concluded that most of the soldiers staffed their posts according to standing orders, but that they did not respond aggressively enough against the Hezbollah attackers.
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