First Israeli soldier convicted of assaulting of Palestinian prisoner

This month, for the first time since the beginning of the Gaza War, an Israeli military court sentenced an Israeli soldier to seven months in prison and demotion in rank for the severe assault of a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail.

The landmark case has been only minimally reported in the domestic or foreign media.  Yet it could have tremendous international and moral significance for Israel.

Reservist Israel Halabi, 25, was was convicted as part of a plea deal for assaults committed between January and June 2024 at the Sde Teiman detention centre in southern Israel, where Palestinians captured in Gaza, including those who took part in the atrocities of October 7, were held until they could be moved to other Israeli prisons.

The court found that while guarding trucks transporting these prisoners, Halabi beat handcuffed and blindfolded detainees and forced them to make animal noises, sing laudatory Israeli songs and curse their leaders and people.

He persisted, even when another soldier told him to stop – and asked other soldiers, as yet unidentified, to record his behaviour. An officer in the unit reported Halabi to the military police, which led to his trial and conviction. The military court ruled that Hajabi's actions were "serious and severe", and emphasised that IDF soldiers “have a duty to use the force entrusted to them in accordance with IDF values and orders, at all times, especially during wartime”.

However, this war has run for nearly a year and a half – and this is the first conviction.

Yet accounts of abuse against Hamas and other Palestinian detainees have been reported since the war began by released inmates, military personnel who witnessed the abuse, medical personnel, and even by the abusers themselves, many of whom boldly posted videos of their violent, illegal and immoral behaviour on social media.

The absence of convictions is not due to a lack of evidence. There have been numerous testimonies and videos regarding Sde Teiman – derisively referred to as the “Israeli Guantanamo” – pointing to sexual torture, sleep deprivation, and severe physical violence, among other abuses.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also described the sexual humiliation of detainees, including sexual insults and urination on prisoners.  Additional reports claimed that the conditions of the detention violated international law.  In another example, Dr Lee Mordechai, a professor of history at Hebrew University, compiled Bearing Witness to the Israel-Gaza War, an online listing with links to texts, self-posted videos, and other kinds of testimonies describing abusive acts by soldiers in Gaza.

I am certainly not comparing the actions of these soldiers to the behaviour of the Hamas terrorists, who have systematically used the most heinous forms of violence, including the war crimes of mass rape and murder. Nor am I contending that these behaviours on the part of specific, rogue IDF soldiers are systemic or part of deliberate and defined Israeli policy. 

It is not clear why Halabi, a low-ranking reservist whose offences, while cruel, were of a lower-level than many of the other widely-reported offences by other soldiers and officers, was the first to be convicted. The IDF spokesperson’s office did not respond to The Jewish Independent’s request for information regarding the number of currently ongoing investigations and trials, or for information regarding the status of procedures against the 10 reservists who were arrested in Sde Teiman on suspicion of brutal sexual abuse of an inmate.

The reasons are most likely a complex combination of political, social and logistical issues, and their discussion is beyond the scope of this column.

Yet two things are very clear: by not prosecuting these offences – at least some of which constitute war crimes and even crimes against humanity according to international human rights law, the IDF is giving the impression that it is not in control of the behaviour of its personnel, and, moreover, that it is not too terribly upset about that, either. And this is at least part of the reason that the soldiers seem to believe that they can act with impunity and even boast about their wrongdoing on social media.

Whatever the reasons that the conviction and sentencing of Halabi were the first of their kind, if this turns out to be the first step towards serious reform within the IDF justice system, it will deter soldiers from further violations and also help to restore the public’s trust in the IDF’s moral and behavioural codes.

It will also improve the status of Israel soldiers when they travel abroad.  According to what is known as the principle of complementarity, international courts of justice at The Hague may not pursue war crimes charges if the soldiers suspected of committing them are subject to credible state investigations and indictments. 

Otherwise, Israel will be telling the whole world that it cannot, or don’t want to, investigate ourselves. If the IDF does act against soldiers who abuse Palestinians, all IDF soldiers will be less exposed to threats of action from international courts.

But most importantly of all, taking action against this abusive and criminal behavior is important for Israeli society because it will help us all maintain our values and our humanity, even as we are forced to face Hamas’ perverted inhumanity.

Apologists for these soldiers’ behaviours, including some government ministers and religious leaders, demand that society understand and even forgive these soldiers who are not, they claim, acting out of sadism but rather out deep-seated rage and need for revenge after the events of October 7.

I do understand. Anyone who watched the return of the hostages on television earlier this week, seeing their gaunt faces and starved tortured bodies, would be enraged and would want revenge. But that does not mean that these actions should be forbidden.

In these difficult times, as we just begin to process what has happened to us as a nation, a society, and individuals, we need our leaders and institutions to help us to control these emotions by setting clear boundaries and expectations for our moral behaviour and demand that we strive, unlike Hamas, to uphold the highest levels of international human rights law. 

We, who rightly rage against the world’s indifference towards Hamas’ behaviour towards the victims and hostages, have no moral right to act in the same way. Because if we do, we will undermine the ethical foundations on which, I believe, this country was meant to stand.