An officer, not a gentleman
UPDATE: Lt. Col. Eisner has been kicked out of his position.
Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner is a soldier’s soldier. The guy is a deputy commander of the Jordan Valley brigade in the Israeli army, an armored brigade trained to fight other armies, head to head, face to face. His whole life he’s been preparing to take on Syrian and Iraqi armored formations, not Danish peace activists.
The blow that Eisner delivered to the ISM activist is a Krav Maga blow that recruits are taught in their first week of basic training. It’s what you’re supposed to do if you’re face to face with your enemy; it’s what you’re trained to do if you find yourself in hand to hand combat, when the bullets are out, or you’re too close to your enemy to shoot, if the enemy and you are at each other’s throats, on death ground, and there is nothing left to do but fight for your life. It’s a last-ditch move you perform on Syrian troops, Hezbollah guerrillas, Hamas gunmen. It’s not a move you pull against unarmed activists, no matter how provocative they are. Eisner’s life was not in danger. At most, his fingers were fractured. He was pissed off and he lost his cool. But he shouldn’t have even been there in the first place.
In fact, a deputy commander of an armored brigade of any army shouldn’t ever be placed in a situation where he’s in the position to be face to face with an unarmed protestor. The deputy commander of a fighting brigade should be out in the field preparing his troops for war against armies, guerrilla groups, terrorists, border infiltrators etc. Unarmed provocateurs need to be met by the Border Police, especially in areas like the Jordan Valley and around Palestinian towns. The Police are trained to deal with disturbances. The Police are trained to subdue, contain, detain. You wouldn’t send a police unit against a Syrian armored division, so why send an armored brigade officer against unarmed protestors?
In the Saluki battle in the Second Lebanon War Eisner extracted troops under fire. In battle, and under fire, he showed cool judgment and bravery. Faced with unarmed provocateurs, facing their taunts, he lost control and lost his judgment. His military career is probably now over, and this is a shame, as he’s probably the kind of fighter you’d want to have on a proper battlefield. But on the modern battlefield of cameras, YouTube and Twitter, he’s not the kind of man you want.
Lieutenant Colonels in Armored Brigades are trained to kill, destroy, vanquish. It’s as simple as that. By the way, Eisner’s blow is just one of a sequence of Krav Maga blows that recruits learn. The blow that Eisner delivered, textbook style, could have been followed by at least 4 others in the sequence, which are designed to completely demobilize an enemy, perhaps even kill him. The fact that Eisner lost his cool and ‘reverted to type’ and his training, is an indication that the soldier was not mentally prepared for his mission against the ISM. He shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Eisner is a man the IDF wants in the field to face his opposite numbers in the Syrian army, the Iranian army, or Hezbollah. He is a soldier, a killer if he needs to be. The IDF does not want Eisner in a lose-lose situation where the battle is against peaceful protestors armed with cameras.
Until the army learns this lesson, no amount of sensitivity training, media awareness training, or damage control, is going to fix the problem.
Amir, a person is not a machine. He always has a choice. I have served in the same places and went through the same training and never thought of hitting someone like this, nor did most of the people I know. While I agree that the army shouldn’t face civilians, Eisner deserves a punishment.
Hey Amir,
i agree with you, and i’m glad you chose to give this some thought; but I also agree with Noam. We as citizens also need to be careful not to revert to type. We must use our critical thinking when we’re faced with stories like this and like that of Lt. Adam Malul, rather than assuming – or is it hoping? – that this is just a rotten apple…because as long as we make excuses for them, and as long as we’re afraid of being called traitors for demanding a disciplined and accountable IDF, there will be many more rotten apples.
well said Amir.
This would never have happened in the unit I served in.
Let this officer’s dismissal be an example to future recruits…..
[...] that the IDF has taken on the role of policeman when it comes to the protesters. Amir Mizroch makes the case that the Lt-Col should never have been allowed near the protesters as he is not trained in the art [...]
I certainly hope this officer’s military career is NOT over.
Because when the next war comes, and it will certainly come, probably sooner rather than later, who’s going to defend you? Soldiers on the front line armed with lollipops?
I saw the video and the ‘poor demonstrator’ was on his feet walking away moments later.
a. If these activists are so peaceful, how come his fingers were broken?
b. You cannot judge the whole incident from a video edited by the ISM. Al-Durah anyone.
c. To everyone who is calling for his blood, at least let him have his day in court, or don’t you believe in the rule of law?
אז אולי תפסיקו ללקק להם את התחת? התמונה הבינלאומית נגדנו ממילא, אז לפחות נתן לשמאל סטירה או שתיים, זה טוב לבריאות, מעלה את הכבוד, ואם הם יודעים שמידי פעם לפעם הם גם סובלים קצת יותר מקול צרוד…אדרבא. לא שאני אומר כל הכבוד לאיזנר, אלא שצריך לתכנן את זאת מוץ למטחווי המצלמה
Eisner, I’m with you!
Israel, stand beside your soldiers! Don’t train them to face the enemy and then abandon the soldiers when the spotlight shines on them. We who are judging the soldiers’ conduct from the comfort of our upholstered chairs can easily hold lofty ideals. But, how can we predict what we would do if we were confronting the enemy in Lod, or anywhere else of their chosing?
It is easy to be an “activist” when you know the Israelis are supposed not to retaliate. In this case the young man was wrong. The Israeli officer probably had short patience due to long time service in defense of his country, we know it is PTSD. I am sure that in retrospect, the colonel regrets loosing his cool. Whoever instigated the confrontation got the publicity. This is what the colonel should have considered in the first place since the “meeting” was being recorded.
Tenpa
The border police and IDF usually work together at West Bank demonstrations. I have witnessed a Kfir officer named Danny praising a border police officer for shooting a tear canister directly into a civilian home in Nabi Saleh. Furthermore, Israeli police are extremely violent – as documented in detail by Eyal Clyne, here: http://english.eyalclyne.com/2010/11/09/quis-custodiet-ipsos-custodes/
And I echo Noam’s comment: a human being always has a choice. And I also suspect that Amos Harel is right in his assessment that Eisner’s career will not be derailed by this incident.
The article itself says “could have been followed through with 4 other crippling or deadly strikes”… and the point is, he DIDN”T follow through. A smack in the mouth of a belligerent so-called “peace activist” is not a “brutal attack”. A brutal attack is when someone detonates a bomb in a crowd of innocent Israeli civilians.. and I suspect Col Eisner has seen his share of those. If someone started stirring trouble in my homeland, or downtown Washington, or Moscow, he would probably meet the same response. I am not Israeli, or even Jewish, but even I can see the bias in this report. Do you see Israeli “peace activists” provoking police in Denmark? These “activists” have no moral ground to stand on… they are being absurd. The Israelis want peace too… you are not helping by causing even more tension.
[...] (ceasefire or no) and the world is in uproar because an Israeli soldier gave a Dane a fat lip. I like this explanation.Meanwhile here is what happens to Danes who protest at home.I particularly liked the CS sprays to [...]
Des Brown: How is riding bicycles on a paved road, not blocking traffic, ‘stirring trouble’?
While it might be true that soldiers such as this officer are notthe ones that should be called to deal with these protestors, all soldiers that represent Israel have to show restraint against unarmed civilians. Where ever they find them.
[...] in the Jordan Valley cycle tour, is a Krav Maga blow that IDF recruits are taught in their first week of basic training. Eisner’s blow is just one of a sequence of Krav Maga blows that recruits learn. The blow that [...]
It seems that the IDF soldiers should behave themselves and act in a more civilized fashion, like the Danish police. Please, IDF, be more Danish – or at least have a Danish with your coffee!
Video showing how it’s done benevolently in Copenhagen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpeiNso-Lqw
For the last year or so, every day, Syrian soldiers of every rank, turn their guns on fellow citizens, innocent men, women and children, and shoot them dead in the streets and in their homes.
I guarantee you that the video of the IDF officer has been seen by more people around the world than any of the innumerable videos that have documented the carnage in Syria.
What does that tell you?