Soldier jailed, commanders penalized after IDF chief calls out ‘Messiah’ patch |
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 days in military jail for wearing an unauthorized patch, reading “Messiah,” on his uniform.
The discipline came after IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir paid a visit to an army post in the West Bank, where he was displeased to find that his recent warning about eroding discipline appeared to have gone unheeded.
After being called out by the chief of staff, the offending Nahal Brigade soldier was sentenced to 30 days in military jail by his brigade commander, Col. Arik Moyal.
Additionally, the soldier’s platoon commander was handed a suspended two-week sentence, and the battalion commander was also censured by the Nahal commander.
The soldiers had been warned earlier Tuesday that Zamir would be visiting the military outpost and doing the rounds, making the transgression all the more blatant.
The Kan public broadcaster quoted Zamir as telling commanders after the incident: “It is incumbent on us to see that we, as commanders, live out the norms that we expect and demand from our soldiers; they look to us and they expect us to guide their path.”
“The righteousness of our way is based on the IDF Code of Ethics and its values, and they are an inseparable part of victory,” he said, according to the report.
Zamir told senior officers last month that the military has seen discipline erode in Israel’s multi-front war over recent years, citing the trend of unauthorized badges and patches as one such “rebellion” against the army’s values, alongside reported looting and the destruction of a statue of Jesus in Lebanon.
In a message sent to other commanders in the brigade after the patch incident was made public, Col. Moyal wrote: “It is important you know that, as I said in conversation with you, the full responsibility is on me, and I acted the way I acted because discipline is a basic value. The way of all our soldiers begins with us commanders.”
“I’m sorry to say, a lack of discipline in operational incidents and in routine brings us loss of human life. The story is not the patch, the story is the values on which we educate. The Nahal........