Thank you for your donation to Breaking the Silence
Amount:
25
50
100

250
500
1,000
or enter an amount:
ILS
EUR
USD
GBP

Pay with Paypal / Credit Card
One time
Monthly
Checks

Checks should be made out to “Breaking the Silence” and sent to:

POB 51027
6713206 Tel Aviv

Money transfer

“Breaking the Silence”
Account number 340211, Branch 567 at Hapoalim Bank

SWIFT: POALILIT

IBAN:
IL310125670000000340211

Tax Deductible

US tax deductible donations can be made through the website of the New Israel Fund.

For tax deductible donations from Europe please contact info@breakingthesilence.org.il

For more information

info@breakingthesilence.org.il

Sign-up for our newsletter
submit
Read our past newsletters
menu
Newsletter Twitter Facebook Instagram Spotify YouTube
Advanced Search
Categories Ranks Units Areas Periods
401st Brigade Mechanised Infantry5th Brigade (Reserves)7th Brigade Mechanised InfantryAir ForceAlexandroni Reserve BrigadeantiaircraftArmored CorpsArmored Corps 7, 75 battalionArmored Corps 8, 455 battalion (Reserves)Armored Corps reconnaissance Unit, 401st BrigadeArmored Corps reconnaissance Unit, 7th BrigadeArmored Corps, 188 BrigadeArmored Corps, 401 BrigadeArmored Corps, 500 BrigadeArmored Corps, 7 BrigadeArtilery 9305Artillery CorpsArtillery Corps - Miniature UAV unitArtillery Corps - Target AcquisitionArtillery Corps, 402 BattalionArtillery Corps, 404 BattalionArtillery corps, 405 BattalionArtillery Corps, 411 BattalionArtillery Corps, 55 BattalionArtillery Corps, Meitar UnitArtillery Corps, Moran UnitArtillery MLRSBinyamin Regional BrigadeBorder PoliceCaracal battalionCheckpoint M.PChemical Warfare BattalionCivilian PoliceCOGATCombat intelligenceDuchifat BattalionDuvdevan UnitEducation CorpsEfraim BrigadeEgoz Reconnaissance UnitEngineering CorpsEngineering, 601 BattalionEngineering, 603 BattalionEngineering, 605 BattalionErez BattalionEtzion Regional CommandGaza RegimentGivati - Rotem BattalionGivati - Shaked BattalionGivati BrigadeGivati Engineering UnitGivati Reconnaissance PlatoonGolani BrigadeGolani Reconnaissance PlatoonGolani, 12 BattalionGolani, 13 BattalionHaruv BattalionIDF SpokespersonInfantryInfantry Commanders AcademyIntelligenceJordan Valley Regional BrigadeJudea and Samaria RegimentJudea Regional BrigadeKarakal BattalionKfir BrigadeKherev BattalionLavi Battalionlook-outMaglan ReconnaissanceMechanized InfantryMilitary CourtMilitary PoliceNachal engineering UnitNachal Special ForcesNachshon BattalionNahal Anti Tank UnitNahal BrigadeNahal HarediNahal Reconnaissance PlatoonNahal, 50th BattalionNahal, 931st BattalionNahal, 932nd BattalionNaval Special ForcesNavyOketz Canine unitOtherParatroopersParatroopers Anti Tank UnitParatroopers engineering UnitParatroopers Reconnaissance BattalionParatroopers Reconnaissance PlatoonParatroopers, 101st BattalionParatroopers, 202nd BattalionParatroopers, 890th BattalionReserve Batallion 5033ReservesReserves - 7490 BattalionReserves - Civilian CorpsReserves - Jerusalem BrigadeReserves - Mechanized Infantry 8104 battalionSachlav UnitSamaria Regional BrigadeSamur - Special Engineering UnitSearch and Rescue Brigade (Homefront Command)Shaldag Reconnaissance UnitShimshon BattalionSouthern CommandSouthern Gaza Regional BrigadeThe Civil AdministrationYael ReconnaissanceYahalom - Special Engineering Unityamas
Free text search
Categories
Ranks
Units
Areas
Periods
Text testimonies You take a man and take control of his life
catalog number: 430060
Rank: First Sergeant
Unit: Lavi Battalion
Area: Hebron area
period: 2003
categories:
605  views    0  comments
You take a man and take control of his life
Rank: First Sergeant
Unit: Lavi Battalion
Area: Hebron area
period: 2003

There was one incident which I think is the most . . . it’s the thing I regret the most. It’s the worst thing I did during all of my service in the Territories. There was this guy who came out from Yatta and went past a barrier. He was on his way from Yatta to Hebron, to the milk production plant. He had a truck full of containers of milk. I think there was a curfew in Hebron at the time. In short, he was not allowed to cross. I caught him right as he was crossing the barrier, and it was the third time that week that I’d caught the same guy—under different circumstances, but the same guy, at more or less the same place. My fuses blew a bit, because I took him out—I asked him to get out of the car, and so on, but he started arguing and yelling, so right away I did two things, got out the cuffs and blindfolds. I went into the jeep, and brought him to the gate. It was, I don’t know, ten in the morning, something like that . . . and somewhere between eleven and one in the morning I released him. Meaning, this was summer, meaning, all day. He had like two thousand liters of milk with him, and all of the milk spoiled. It was all day, he just sat at the gate with a blindfold on and his hands tied. When I look at it now, I’m ashamed because of two things. First, because of how I treated another human being. Just taking a man and taking control of his life like that? I physically took him away, bound him, brought him to that post and said, “Okay, sit here.” I took him as a bound prisoner. And no one else was responsible for that. It wasn’t as if I got an order, right? No, it was what I decided to do. And this was acceptable. From the perspective of everyone in charge of me, there was no problem. Okay, you detained someone, there’s the way you treated another human being, and the fact that there was property involved, meaning the milk. Something of monetary value was lost. Meaning I made the man lose who knows how many shekels, but let’s say the milk was worth at least five hundred shekels. In Yatta that’s a lot of money. Really. Fine, so I didn’t take the money from his pocket, but my actions caused him to lose it. And to me that’s still less important than the way I treated him as a human. It’s not okay. Because really, what’s the big deal? He’s not a terrorist, he wasn’t wanted, he’s not someone who came up to me or threatened me with a weapon. He’s a regular guy. What was the point of what I did? Nothing. Did it contribute to the security of the state? No. I just did harm to someone. And that’s not okay.