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Senior Israeli Politicians Worry
Their Own Army Is Out Of Control
This Is London.com
10-2-1

Senior Israeli politicians and commentators have begun to question whether their own army is drifting beyond the control of the elected government and courts after a series of incidents in which several Palestinians were killed, an entire hamlet destroyed, and generals accused of deliberately undermining peace efforts.
 
The unease comes a year into a Palestinian uprising that has evolved from riots to low-intensity guerrilla war, and shattered the Israeli army's image as an efficient citizens' army. Amos Harel, the distinguished defence correspondent of Haaretz, a Hebrew and English daily, said: "The IDF's actions over the last few days raise a number of questions, reflecting the problems that have dogged military operations in the territories throughout the past year.
 
"These problems are epitomised by two statistics: the number of Palestinians under 16 who have been killed - 74, out of 662 Palestinian fatalities - and the number of indictments - one - that have resulted from 150 military police investigations."
 
Human rights groups, and foreign governments, have protested against the Israeli use of live ammunition for crowd control. There have been equal appeals to the Palestinian Authority to keep children away from areas where the two sides clash - and condemnation of the use of civilian areas as nests for gunmen. But neither side has attended to these concerns. While the Israelis have strict rules of engagement, which they often ignore, the Palestinians have declared open season on Jewish settlers living in colonies on the West Bank and in Gaza.
 
But now there are concerns that the Israeli army's "middle management" have also begun to shake off civilian control and take decisions with profound political implications. And that the top echelons in the armed forces have shown similar contempt for their civilian masters.
 
Last week, ignoring a high court ruling, and the army's own standing orders, an Israeli major ordered his paratroopers into a hamlet on the slopes of Mount Hebron. His men, backed up by bulldozers, destroyed the homes of about 120 villagers. The soldiers filled in wells which fed the sheep and green crops in fields. The Palestinian families were ordered out and told to live in nearby Yatta.
 
This was the second time the hamlet had been attacked by the Israeli army, which almost two years ago was ordered out by Israel's High Court. Outraged Jewish human rights groups appealed to the country's top judges again. The judges found in favour of the farmers, goatherds and families. Binyamin Ben Eliezer, the Israeli defence minister, also ruled that the evictions should halt. The army ignored him too. It declared the area, which is on the Israeli occupied-West Bank, a "closed military zone".
 
Yasser Arafat has struggled to impose on his own troops and radical Islamic groups opposed to his rule the ceasefire agreed last week with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres. The Israeli army said that there had been more than 100 shooting and bomb attacks on its men since last Tuesday. Yesterday Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for a car bomb in Jerusalem.
 
It has been clear since the intifada began that Mr Arafat is unwilling or unable to keep the lid on violence from his side. But Mr Peres is also reported to have complained that Israeli generals had used a heavy hand in the Occupied Territories where 20 Palestinians have been killed in a week.
 
Yedioth Ahronoth, a Hebrew daily, said Mr Peres was "convinced" Israeli army deputy chief of staff Moshe Yaalon had decided to "liquidate Arafat". Mr Peres's spokesman later denied the report. But Mr Peres is known to have been outraged that when senior officers are called before the civilian leadership they try to brow-beat doves in the cabinet into accepting that a military solution is the only way forward.
 
Haaretz observed in an editorial yesterday: "The army's commanders must ask themselves why so many Palestinians became casualties in the past few days. Israel's interest in maintaining the ceasefire is too vital and clear for there to be whispering inside the government focused on the army's disobedience."




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