Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked wants the spokeperson for NGO Breaking the Silence investigated for claiming he beat an unarmed Palestinian under IDF orders. Soldiers who served with him told World Israel News it never happened.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked appealed to the Attorney General, requesting that Dean Issacharoff be investigated after the spokesperson for the whistle-blowing Breaking the Silence NGO was caught on video claiming to have assaulted innocent Palestinians in Hebron while serving in the IDF. Soldiers from Issacharoff’s unit adamantly deny the veracity of his story.
“If it really happened he must be investigated and punished. If it didn’t happen the state needs to say so clearly.” Shaked told Army Radio Wednesday morning.
Dean Issacharoff caused a firestorm after claiming at a rally to have beaten an unarmed Palestinian unconscious, allegedly at his commander’s orders. “I grabbed him by the neck and started to knee him in the face and chest until he was bleeding and unconscious,” Issacharoff said.
In response, Reservists on Duty released a hard-hitting video in which many soldiers from his unit strenuously deny his version of events and call him a liar. The video subsequently went viral, garnering more then a million views. Major Omri Steiner, who commanded Issacharoff, also took to Facebook, writing, “It never happened! There was no incident that was even close to the story you told.”
Gilad Ach, who heads the Ad Kan Israel advocacy NGO, had originally filed a police complaint against Issacharoff for War Crimes and Assault. “War crimes is a very serious thing,” Ach told World Israel News (WIN). “We see with Elor Azaria how important the ethical code is to the IDF, and a soldier who admits to carrying out such shocking actions should feel the full weight of the law coming down on him.”
Elor Azaria is a soldier currently on trial for killing a wounded terrorist in Hebron, in a controversial case that has divided Israel.
Phil Katz served in the same company as Issacharoff and scoffed at his claims of unlawful violence directed towards Arabs. “I never saw him hit anyone” Katz told WIN. “He didn’t, I didn’t, no one did. It never happened.”
The furor surrounding Issacharoff was reignited in May, after his father, Jeremy Issacharoff, was appointed ambassador to Germany. Many called for the appointment to be rescinded in the wake of his sons actions.
By: Tzvi Lev, World Israel News