Israel Investigates Reports of Soldiers Abusing Corpses
/The Israeli Army has ordered an investigation into allegations
that soldiers in the West Bank photographed each other two years ago
posing with the head of a suicide bomber, into whose mouth they stuck a
cigarette, the chief of staff, Gen. Moshe Yaalon, said today. He was
responding to a report in the weekend magazine of Yediot Aharonot, the
country's largest-selling daily. The newspaper also reported several
incidents of the abuse of the corpses of Palestinian fighters by
soldiers who then took photos. General Yaalon told army radio that any
such behavior "is inappropriate for an Israeli and a Jewish soldier,"
adding: "Our moral fortitude is no less important than our military
fortitude." He said he had ordered an investigation by the military
police. "I intend to reach the truth," General Yaalon said. "God forbid
if we are compared and likened to those against whom we are fighting."
In one of the most gruesome acts detailed in the report, soldiers in an
ultra-Orthodox unit reassembled the body parts of a Palestinian suicide
bomber, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and then posing for
photographs, according to the report. "Everyone was really excited,"
said a soldier identified as "Y." The newspaper quoted him saying, "I
tried to tell them, `Are you crazy? You are disgusting.' They didn't
understand what I was talking about." [more] and [more]
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