ISRAELI LEADERS CRITICIZE RESERVISTS' 'CALL FOR INSUBORDINATION', PRAISE 'SACRED WORK' OF UNIT 8200

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06530909
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: March 3, 2017
• Case Number: F-2016-01162
• Publication Date: September 14, 2014

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CITE OSC RESTON VA 267822
WARNING: TOPIC: INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL, LEADER, MILITARY
SERIAL: LIN2014091428656224
BODY
COUNTRY: GAZA STRIP, ISRAEL, WEST BANK
SUBJ: (U) ISRAELI LEADERS CRITICIZE RESERVISTS' CALL FOR
Insubordination', Praise 'Sacred Work' of Unit 8200
REF: 1. Minister: Israel 'To Come to Jordan's Defense' if Assistance
Requested as Result of ISIL Progress LIN2014091422092585 Voice of
Israel Network B Hebrew 0500 GMT 14 Sep 14 (U)
2. Israel: Unit 8200 Reservists Refuse To Assist Intel-Gathering on
Palestinians; IDF Rejects Charges LIL2014091256055242 The Times of
Israel English 0749 GMT 12 Sep 14 (U)
SOURCE: Tel Aviv Haaretz.com in English 14 Sep 14 (U)
TEXT:
[ (U) Report by Gili Kohen and Jonathan Lis: "Herzog Rebukes 'Call
for Insubordination' by Intel Reservists"]
[INTERNET]
[OSC Transcribed Text]
(U) This product may contain copyrighted material; authorized use is
for national security purposes of the United States Government only.
Any reproduction, dissemination, or use is subject to the OSC usage
policy and the original copyright.
Opposition leader and Labor Party chairman Isaac Herzog has
criticized the "call for insubordination" in the letter by army
intelligence reservists announcing their refusal to take part in
actions against Palestinians.
Writing on his Facebook page Saturday, Labor Party chief Herzog said
he opposed the 43 reservists' refusal to follow orders.
Herzog, who served as a major in the elite Unit 8200 himself, wrote
that the unit's activities were "vital not only in wartime but mainly
in peacetime. When one speaks of a political arrangement and setting
borders, one speaks about early warning stations and intelligence
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capabilities to locate and stop extremist forces that would do
anything to damage peace."
According to Herzog, though mistakes have been made, there is a right
way to complain and launch a discussion, and it's not "by encouraging
and calling for insubordination, or with a damaging publication
abroad, the price of which we, Israeli citizens, will pay."
The reservists' letter Thursday was addressed to Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz
and Military Intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi.
"We, veterans of Unit 8200, reserve soldiers both past and present,
declare that we refuse to take part in actions against Palestinians
and refuse to continue serving as tools in deepening the military
control over the Occupied Territories," the reservists wrote.
"It is commonly thought that the service in military intelligence is
free of moral dilemmas and solely contributes to the reduction of
violence and harm to innocent people. However, our military service
has taught us that intelligence is an integral part of Israel's
military occupation over the territories."
The signatories claimed that while surveillance of Israeli citizens
was strictly limited, "the Palestinians are not afforded this
protection."
They said the information that is collected in the military's
computers "harms innocent people. It is used for political
persecution and to create divisions within Palestinian society by
recruiting collaborators and driving parts of Palestinian society
against itself."
According to the reservists, "In many cases, intelligence prevents
defendants from receiving a fair trial in military courts, as the
evidence against them is not revealed. Intelligence allows for the
continued control over millions of people through thorough and
intrusive supervision and invasion of most areas of life. This does
not allow for people to lead normal lives, and fuels more violence
further distancing us from the end of the conflict."
The soldiers noted that millions of Palestinians have been living
under Israeli military rule for more than 47 years.
"This regime denies the basic rights and expropriates extensive
tracts of land for Jewish settlements subject to separate and
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different legal systems, jurisdiction and law enforcement," they
wrote.
"This reality is not an inevitable result of the state's efforts to
protect itself but rather the result of choice. Settlement expansion
has nothing to do with national security. The same goes for
restrictions on construction and development, economic exploitation
of the West Bank, collective punishment of inhabitants of the Gaza
Strip, and the actual route of the separation barrier."
Smola, a new left-wing Zionist movement, has also come out against
the letter.
"Refusal to serve -- on the left and the right -- is the root of all
evil," said Smola founder Eran Hermoni, a former head of the Labor
Party's youth wing. We are completely opposed to the government's
policy and believe that continuing to control another nation will
bring disaster to the Zionist vision, but we will fight it
democratically."
Late Saturday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon praised the "sacred
work" by Unit 8200 and deplored "the attempt to damage it and its
activity by calling for insubordination based on claims that are
inconsistent with its activities and its values." He cited an
"attempt to aid the lying campaigns abroad to delegitimize the State
of Israel and the IDF."
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Danny Rothschild, a former coordinator of government
activities in the territories and current head of the Institute for
Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Herzliya, said over the
weekend that both the letter and a letter of support in Unit 8200
"should not have been sent."
A number of Unit 8200 veterans have told Haaretz that at any given
time thousands of soldiers serve with the unit, so a letter by 43
people shouldn't surprise anyone. One reservist said that because any
reservists there can easily choose not to do reserve duty with it,
the signatories' announcement had more symbolic than practical value.
Yesh Gvul is an Israeli peace group that campaigns against the
occupation by backing soldiers who refuse "duties of a repressive or
aggressive nature," as it says on its website.
"You (Ya'alon and Netanyahu) thank Unit 8200 soldiers for their
professional service on the one hand and with the other hand instruct
them to continue to carry out war crimes," the group said in a
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statement, referring to remarks on Facebook by Ya'alon and Netanyahu
about the reservists' letter.
"You send soldiers to die in wars of choice (and) bring Israel to
nondemocratic abysses with your choice to continue to rule over
another people."
According to Yesh Gvul, "Instead of listening to the clear voice of
Unit 8200 objectors, which calls on you to end the rule over millions
of Palestinians, you continue on your path of wars and blood ....
Israelis will only have security when you end your positions and
Israel begins looking for a political solution to the conflict."
[Description of Source: Tel Aviv Haaretz.com in English -- Website of
English-language version of Ha'aretz, left-of-center, independent
daily of record; URL: http://www.haaretz.comn
(U) This product may contain copyrighted material; authorized use is
for national security purposes of the United States Government only.
Any reproduction, dissemination, or use is subject to the OSC usage
policy and the original copyright.
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