Today, Breaking the Silence has released its testimony from soldiers who fought in the recent Gaza offensive, Operation Cast Lead. Breaking the Silence is one of the most valuable and important NGO’s operating in Israel today. They ‘aim ultimately to stimulate public debate about the moral price that Israeli society as a whole has been paying for a reality in which young soldiers face a civilian population on an everyday basis and control its life.’

Over the past six months they have been collecting testimonies from soldiers that served in Operation Cast Lead about the reality of the war from their eyes and experience. I have read the document and was shocked at the stories on so many levels. The fact that white phosphorus was used as a weapon, the absolute destruction of Gaza, the “shoot first ask questions later” mentality, the atmosphere of sick untouchability of the commanders telling their troops to act brutally and finally the absolute lies that the State of Israel put out about its conduct in the Gaza war. The international media is beginning to cover the story and most of the news coverage today regards IDF using human shields during the Gaza campaign. What words can I put down as commentary for this? How do you discount the testimony of a soldier who was ordered to use human shields or destroy entire neighborhoods?

A passage that struck me is on page 54 and I have reprinted it below.

Testimony 24- Regarding Briefings & House Demolitions

I was a D-9 operator, and was called up for reserve duty on Saturday, January 3rd, I think, got there on January 4th.

Which is just when the ground –offensive began, right?

Yes

So you arrive and get briefed, what were the briefings you had?

Yes. Target practice, a drill here, a drill there. The infantry really trained hard, but we had nothing to train with, there was no equipment. In short, what shocked me was a talk we had with the commander of ***, he’s a colonel, and he gave our whole battalion a talk. First of all he started out with something like, “Unfortunately we’re a democracy, so we can’t demolish Gaza to the extent that we’d really like.” Perhaps he didn’t actually say ‘unfortunately’ but he repeated, twice, that ‘the fact we’re a democracy works against us, for the army cannot act as aggressively as it would like.” Then he said once again that we’re going into this operation aggressively, without… Usually in such talks the army, the commanders mention the lives of civilians and showing consideration to civilians. Here he didn’t even mention this. Just the brutality, go in there brutally.

Those are the words he used?

Yes. He said, “In case of any doubt, take down houses. You don’t need confirmation for anything, if you want.” Perhaps it’s legitimate, but if you suspect the presence of an explosive charge, you should get confirmation for a tank to fire. In short, a tank would fire a shell on the basis of a suspected charge. This is perhaps legitimate, but he also said, “Fortunately the hospitals are full to capacity already, so people are dying more quickly.” Then someone answered him, one of the soldiers replied cynically: “So kill the doctors” The commander replied dismissingly, not understanding his cynical intent, twice: “We’re a democracy, we can’t do things the way we would like to do them.” He didn’t leave anytime for questions, either.

Jerry Haber at the Magnes Zionist just finished reading the document and has these conclusions:
1. Operation Cast Lead was a “war” in which only one side fought and fought with little restraint.
2. White phosphorus was used against international conventions.
3. The devastation was enormous, on an unprecedented scale in the Israeli warfare.
4. Vandalism was
5. Gazans Were Used as Human Shields

In Israel, Haaretz broke the story and currently is featuring the story on its English website. It is curious that the Hebrew version of Haaretz has the story placed “under the fold”. The Jerusalem Post is not even covering the story yet and Ynet has a small headline in its news section. The BBC, by contrast, is carrying the story as its main headline.