Do you think that in general, their (the Palestinians’) problems, their needs are listened to?

No. It’s such a big mass [of people], and you’re a 19-year-old kid who’s had a fight with his girlfriend at home, or a fight with his commander in the morning and you got kept on base (a military punishment, when a soldier gets kept on base during their time off), so you don’t give a shit right now about this stinking Arab who comes to the [reception] window and asks [for something], you have no time for it. So at first you’re nice, and then you go through this process and you say, “What’s he driving me crazy about now? I have bigger problems in my life right now than this person. I’ve had a fight with my girlfriend, we broke up, I’m sad, I can’t be bothered.” Let’s put it this way: 90% of the soldiers don’t give a shit, [they] want to finish their work and go home, to go back to the base.

Yes.

Permits won’t be denied because I woke up in a bad mood this morning, but my attitude to the Palestinian at the window will definitely come across. Sometimes I saw soldiers who were nice there, sometimes they treated people who could have been their grandparents like shit. So it’s totally messed up.