AN ISRAELI military court has sentenced a soldier to five months in prison for posing in pictures pointing a loaded rifle to the head of a bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoner.
The soldier took the photographs in January when his unit, made up of ultra-Orthodox conscripts, was serving near the West Bank city of Jenin. The images were discovered on his mobile phone along with photos of two fellow soldiers committing similar acts. Legal proceedings against the two have not been completed.
The soldier, identified as corporal S, was convicted on charges of abuse, improper behaviour and illegal use of a weapon.
He told the court that he did not mean to hurt the prisoner’s feelings and did not intend to distribute the photographs. He told the judges that he realised, after the event, that his actions were inappropriate.
Military prosecutors located the Palestinian detainee photographed by the soldier but he testified that he was not offended by the soldier’s actions.
The military advocate general argued that the case should be seen in the wider context of international criticism of Israel. “We are being scrutinised at a time where we as an army and country are living under a type of moral blockade following the Goldstone report on the Gaza war and the interception of the aid flotilla to Gaza,” he said.
The five-month prison term was an attempt to set a precedent in order to stamp out a growing trend of inappropriate action by Israeli troops captured on film.