IDF Head: Trials for Mishaps During Actions Objectionable

The Israel Defense Force chief of staff told a parliamentary committee that he sharply objected to putting IDF officers on trial for mishaps that occurred during military operations.

By making military officers subject to potential criminal responsibility, they may be less inclined to take initiatives and risks, Lt. Gen. Amnon Shahak told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.

Shahak’s comments came in response to Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair’s decision to have an IDF lieutenant face criminal charges after one of his soldiers was accidentally killed in a friendly-fire incident during an operation in southern Lebanon.

In that incident, the lieutenant split up his column during a night operation in Lebanon. One of his troops, thinking the unit was still traveling in single file, opened fire when he heard noises in the surrounding bushes. The shot killed a fellow soldier.

Shahak was quoted as telling the committee similar that mishaps have happened in the past.

He added that the military has its own system for holding soldiers accountable, and that they should only face courts-martial for taking a decision that was deliberately criminal or negligent.

Shahak said there is a difference between negligence and poor judgment and that the situation on the battlefield often requires officers to take the initiative.

The IDF wants effective officers, Shahak was quoted as saying not lawyers leading troops.

Shahak received unanimous support fro his views from the members of the committee, with the exception of Knesset member Naomi Chazan, of the dovish Meretz Party.

She argued that the attorney general should have the ability to intervene in certain cases, and that placing the army beyond the arm of the law sent a message of the public that the IDF has no legal accountability.