How the IDF created a media frenzy
The IDF's rush to condemn the soldier who shot a Palestinian assailant on the ground before his indictment only contributed to the public dispute in the Israeli media over the issue.
Low attendance at the rally on the evening of April 19 for the release of Cpl. Elor Azaria, who shot a captured terrorist in Hebron, puts the entire incident back to its proper proportions. A soldier is being court-martialed for acting in a highly inappropriate manner. He is not a hero. He is not, as a rally slogan said, "the [soldier] son of all of us” who must be rescued from the authorities. The killing was a one-time incident that should be handled by judges in a military court, not by a bunch of frenzied politicians.
For some unknown reason, on March 24, Azaria shot a terrorist after he had been neutralized, in flagrant violation of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) orders and values. The IDF’s botched handling of the media coverage blew the incident out of all proportions. It shot the affair to the top of the public and political agenda and caused enormous damage to Israel’s image in the international arena. If there is anything that deserves to be investigated apart from what the soldier did, it is the rushed response of the army’s top brass, headed by IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz. Much like the leak from the military police’s investigation of the event, this response had a snowball effect, which caused an unnecessary uproar throughout the entire country.
In terms of public relations and the media, what the soldier did — which was videotaped by a Palestinian resident of Hebron — was an enormous blow to Israel. The video, which was distributed by the B’Tselem human rights organization, offered an unmediated look at the extreme situations inherent to the occupation. If, under routine circumstances, the IDF and the government struggle to explain harsh images of soldiers with their rifles cocked, standing before long lines of desperate Palestinians, the wanton killing of a terrorist, lying wounded on the ground, sets any efforts to explain the other images back by miles.
Almoz immediately realized how powerful the clip was and launched a vigorous assault on the soldier in the media, even before the military police began their investigation. In fact, the IDF spokesman sounded as if he had already reached a verdict in the case. The very same day it happened, he said, “The chief of staff views this as a serious incident. … This is not the IDF, these are not the values of the IDF and these are not the values of the Jewish people.” He should have come up with a more restrained response instead, expressing his reservations and promising to conduct an in-depth investigation of the incident.
