As the United States starts to wake up for the day more news is coming out about the Breaking the Silence Testimony Report from Operation Cast Lead. Mikhael Manekin of Breaking the Silence has a brilliant piece in the Huffington Post about how the testimonies conflict with the official government line of what took place during the war. He writes:

“Most important, the spokesperson claimed that all soldiers received precise rules of engagement when they entered the operation, with an emphasis on avoiding injury to civilians. Many soldiers testified that in their units there was total disregard for civilian safety and a permissiveness they had never encountered in previous operations. “If you are not sure – shoot. If there is doubt then there is no doubt,” one combatant said he was told.”

Jerry Haber at the Magnes Zionist is also covering the story by giving commentary and reprinting full testimonies of soldiers. Please take a look at his site for these important updates.

Lastly, the Israeli government has responded in an upsetting but not surprising way. From the official statement:

“The IDF Spokesperson Unit regrets the fact that yet another human rights organization is presenting to Israel and the world a report based on anonymous and general testimonies, without investigating their details or credibility. Furthermore, this organization denied the IDF the minimal decency of presenting the report to the IDF and allowing it to investigate the testimonies prior to the report’s publication. This was done while defaming and slandering the IDF and its commanders.”

Breaking the Silence is doing incredible work on behalf of the Israeli public. They are working, in the face of internal difficulty, for the betterment of Israeli society. It is upsetting to see Israel labeling BTS as a “human rights organization” in such a dismissive way. Would it not be easier for the state to deal with the testimonies and fix the problems within the military leadership?