Breaking The Silence (non-governmental Organization) - Gaza Conflict

Gaza Conflict

A post operation discussion on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict at the Yitzak Rabin pre-military course at Oranim Academic College at Kiryat Tiv'on caused an international furor. The Palestinian accusations of indiscriminate and disproportionate firepower being used in civilian areas during the ground assault, that the Israeli government had dismissed as "Palestinian propaganda", had apparently been backed by IDF testimonies at post operation discussions. The IDF conducted an investigation and the Military Advocate General announced that the soldiers testimonies regarding civilians being shot were based on hearsay and no corroborating evidence was found.

Breaking the Silence confirmed it had also taken testimony, from soldiers who took part in the Gaza assault, of a similar nature to the allegations made by soldiers at the conference of graduates of the Yitzak Rabin pre-military course. On 15 July 2009 'Breaking the Silence' published a new booklet "Soldiers' Testimonies from Operation Cast Lead, Gaza 2009". According to Breaking the Silence the booklet compiles the testimonies of about 30 reserve and regular combat soldiers from various units that participated in the fighting. 54 testimonies/stories reveal the use of "firing of phosphorus gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims small arms, destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose." Testimonies also claimed that a tactic called 'Neighbor Procedure' was used, in which civilians, referred to as 'the Johnnie' were used as human shields and forced to enter buildings ahead of soldiers. The soldiers testimonies also included what The Times described as "the role of military rabbis in distributing booklets that framed the fighting as a religious war."

Many of the soldiers allege they were given orders by their commanders to prevent harm to Israeli soldiers by any means necessary. They stated that brigade, battalion, and company commanders gave morale-building conversations before combat that led to "zero patience for the life of enemy civilians". According to the authors, the testimonies expose significant gaps between the official stances of the Israeli military and events on the ground.

The Israeli military dismissed the July 2009 report, saying that it was "investigating many of the requests from NGOs and other groups... But when you have a report that is based on hearsay, with no facts whatsoever, we can't do anything with it." It said that in the past some allegations had turned out to be second or third-hand accounts, rather than the witnesses' own experience.

Breaking the Silence argues that it verifies all of its information by cross-referencing the testimonies it collects. The material that is eventually published has been confirmed by a number of testimonies, from several different points of view. Breaking the Silence also made it clear that the personal details of the soldiers quoted in the collection, and the exact location of the incidents described in the testimonies, would readily be made available to any official and independent investigation of the events, as long as the identity of the testifiers did not become public.