Schism in 'Israel': Detained soldiers accused of rape called 'heroes'
8 Min Read
The Israeli army has announced a suspension of "critical security discussions regarding escalation in the North," citing the attack on the Beit Lid military base by right-wing gangs on Monday evening.
-
Far-right settlers, some of them wearing military uniforms and face masks and carrying weapons, gather outside the Beit Lid army base as they protest over the detention for questioning of military reservists who raped a Palestinian detained there, on July 29, 2024. (AFP)
The Israeli army confirmed that it has halted a round of "critical security discussions regarding escalation in the North," describing the attack on the military base in Beit Lid as a "serious incident constituting a criminal offense and a threat to Israel’s security, and the war effort."
The incident follows a dramatic escalation as dozens of settlers from far-right settler groups, some masked and armed, joined by other political activists, breached an Israeli military base on Monday evening. The base was the site where Israeli occupation soldiers, detained for severe moral violations and the extreme torture of a Palestinian detainee, were being questioned.
Zionist MP Hanoch Milwidsky from Netanyahu's Likud party says it is legitimate to rape Palestinian prisoners.
— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) July 30, 2024
The West endorses rape. pic.twitter.com/1m2mzZJ6cJ
Reports confirm that one Palestinian detainee was subjected to gang rape by 9 or 10 Israeli soldiers and endured severe torture, resulting in paralysis and current hospitalization. According to an Israeli Army Radio report, the abuse occurred approximately three weeks ago at the Sde Teiman detention facility. The victim was discovered at the military base in critical condition and was subsequently transported to a hospital for treatment and surgery.
Settlers protecting offending soldiers from repercussions
This unrest occurred just hours after a separate base had been stormed by a right-wing mob furious over the arrests.
Everyone from Netanyahu's son, Yair, to Israel's Economy Minister Nir Barkat, to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, has chimed in to defend the right of soldiers to rape Palestinian prisoners. What was intended as a legal charade to demonstrate to the ICC that Israel could hold its… https://t.co/4eVV7AsA09
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 30, 2024
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that three battalions from the Nahal Brigade were urgently deployed to the region between Nablus, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm following their involvement in the war on Gaza. The report highlighted that "the army had been fully engaged over the past 24 hours in preparations for a potential northern front that could escalate into war, but had to suspend all operations due to the events in Beit Lid."
Footage showed dozens of Israeli settlers breaching the military court building to forcibly release the charged Israeli soldiers, despite the court having significantly reduced their sentences due to pressure from right-wing figures, particularly ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, who sought to prevent punishment despite the convictions.
The footage also captured a heated discussion between soldiers and military police investigators at the Sde Teiman concentration camp.
It is worth noting that Sde Teiman, a military installation in southern occupied Palestine, has gained notoriety as a site likened to a "New Guantanamo," where the Israeli army reportedly engages in the torture and killing of Palestinian civilians of all ages, including children, who have been abducted from various areas of the Gaza Strip since the onset of the war on October 7. These individuals are brought to the facility for initial interrogation, as stated by the Israeli military.
Reports of abuse at Sde Teiman have already emerged in global media, following an outcry from local and international rights groups about the horrific conditions there.
Political and military rift deepens over assessment of harrowing incident
The chaotic scenes of mass break-ins, driven by several members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition—some of whom were involved in the forcible entries—led to clashes and intensified the existing divisions within "Israel’s" political and military establishments.
IOF Chief Herzi Halevi condemned the riots outside the Sde Teiman base, stating they undermined "the army, Israel’s security, and the war effort."
Israeli media reported that the protests continued, culminating in a similar break-in at the army’s Beit Lid base in central "Israel", despite calls for calm from Israeli occupation's Prime Minister Netanyahu, Security Minister Yoav Gallant, and President Isaac Herzog.
Right-wing lawmakers, including police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, and Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot, incited their supporters to protest outside Sde Teiman, leading to illegal entries into the base by some of the settlers.
After moving from Sde Teiman to Beit Lid, where the soldiers were being questioned, dozens of settlers also broke into that base, which houses the Military Police and IOF courts.
Halevi condemns incidents
Some rioters at Beit Lid were seen in IOF uniforms and appeared armed. A social media photo showed Likud Knesset member Tally Gotliv among masked rioters, encouraging them to gather at the base.
המהומה בבית ליד: רעולי פנים חמושים במדים על משאית, לצד ח"כ גוטליבhttps://t.co/G5clWDCVSw
— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) July 29, 2024
צילום: רענן בן צור pic.twitter.com/D66VJIM9sE
Halevi, who fully supports the investigation by Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi and the Military Police, later visited Beit Lid, condemning the incidents.
"We came to Beit Lid… to make sure that nothing more serious happens. The arrival of rioters and attempts to break into the bases is serious behavior, against the law, bordering on anarchy, harming the IDF, the security of the state and the war effort," he stressed.
Gallant, who spoke with Halevi, affirmed full support for the IOF in taking immediate measures to stop unauthorized entries into bases. He described the Beit Lid break-in as a serious threat to "Israeli democracy" and the war effort, urging the police to act against lawbreakers and elected officials to avoid making irresponsible statements.
"I call on the Israel Police to act immediately against those breaking the law and on all elected officials to refrain from irresponsible statements that drag the IDF into the political arena," Gallant added.
The Israeli army dispatched additional IOF units to Beit Lid and planned to send more battalions by Tuesday to reinforce security, as per Israeli media reports. While denying any troops were being pulled from Gaza to protect the base, the army warned that the riots were negatively impacting "Israel’s security".
On his part, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich supported the protests against the soldiers' arrests.
'Israel is in the abyss'
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid claimed that the riots on Monday revealed Netanyahu’s weakness and his loss of control over his government. He called for Netanyahu to dismiss the ministers involved in the break-ins.
"We are not on the brink of the abyss, we are in the abyss," he cautioned in a statement. "All the red lines were crossed today."
מפגיני הימין מנסים לפרוץ את הכלא כדי לשחרר את העצורים. איפה הצבא? איפה המשטרה? איפה השב״כ? pic.twitter.com/FuBrHmLDp1
— Yoav Ribak (@YoavRibak) July 29, 2024
"This is not a riot, this is an attempted coup by an armed militia against a weak prime minister who is unable to control his government," Lapid stressed.
Labor MK Naama Lazimi announced on X that she had lodged a complaint with the Knesset’s ethics committee against Sukkot and Vaturi for their involvement in the break-in at Sde Teiman.
Earlier, Shanna Orlik from the Hitorerut movement filed a police complaint against Sukkot for his role in the Sde Teiman breach, highlighting that such actions constitute a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment.
According to the Ynet news site, several journalists covering the riot, including their own reporter Ilana Curiel, were assaulted by protesters. Police had to intervene to ensure her safety.
"They pushed me, spat on me, called me a s***, the Arabs’ w***e, traitor" she recalled. "They threw my phone twice. I’m in tears."
'Israel' has a long history of weaponizing sexual violence
Since 1948, Palestinians of all ages both women and men have faced abduction, detention, torture, and sexual assault by Israeli occupation forces in their prisons, with Sde Teiman being one particularly notorious facility. Often, their families are forced to witness these abuses.
Palestinian lawyer Khaled Mahagna recounts shocking testimonies from Palestinian detainees stating that Israeli soldiers have raped Palestinian prisoners to death in detention.
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 15, 2024
Israel has kidnapped more than 9,500 Palestinians since the beginning of its genocide in Gaza,… pic.twitter.com/0RmjpcSXqD
Since October 7, images emerged showing Palestinian women and men being stripped naked by Israeli forces. Subsequently, testimonies from Palestinian men began circulating globally, revealing extreme forms of sexual torture and assault, some of which involved attack dogs.
Read next: Harrowing accounts of torture, abuse, and rape inside Israeli prisons
Ben-Gvir calls rapists 'Israel's best heroes', Levin says IOF engaged in 'holy war'
Ben-Gvir audaciously stated that it was "shameful" for "Israel" to arrest "our best heroes," while Smotrich said that "IDF soldiers deserve respect" and must not be treated as "criminals."
In response to the outcry, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein announced that he would convene an urgent hearing on Tuesday to address the arrests of the IOF soldiers.
"I will not lend a hand to scenes like the one seen today at the base in Sde Teiman," Edelstein said. "A situation in which masked military policemen raid an IDF base is not acceptable to me, and I will not allow it to happen again."
"Justice" Minister Yariv Levin, who often criticizes the High Court of Justice, held the court responsible for the arrests of the soldiers. He argued that this situation supports the need to revive his previously suspended judicial overhaul initiative.
"I was shocked to see the difficult pictures of soldiers being arrested at Sde Teiman the way dangerous criminals are arrested," Levin said, arguing that the soldiers involved were performing "holy war" and that their arrest was the result of a "moral distortion that starts from the top, from judgments and decisions of the High Court."
Read next: Palestinians dying in Israeli jails since October highest in decades
