The military prosecutor’s unusual request to impose a blackout on the names of witnesses in the trial of Elor Azaria, who shot a Palestinian assailant on the ground on March 24, sends a pathetic message of weakness and surrender in the face of growing extremism in Israeli society and the spread of crassness in the public discourse.

The request was submitted June 20 following a flurry of verbal assaults and threats over social media targeting Azaria’s commanding officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Maj. Tom Neeman. The highly regarded officer testified at the trial of Azaria, who is accused of killing a “neutralized” attacker in Hebron. In his testimony, Neeman said that Azaria shot the man without his permission and without any operational motive, and later told him, “The terrorist was alive and needed to die.”

After giving his testimony, Neeman was flooded with hundreds of angry responses by Azaria’s followers on the social networks. In this flurry of incitement and verbal violence, Neeman was called a “traitor” and a “disgrace to the IDF.” He even received personal threats by phone.

Rapper Yoav Eliasi, better known as “The Shadow,” is a Facebook phenomenon with 240,000 followers. He posted, “Today, the company commander of the fighter from Hebron testified against him. This was the final proof that everything we knew about the IDF of yesteryear — the camaraderie among its fighters, officers leading the charge and jumping on the grenade before it goes off — all gets tossed in the garbage when you have to protect your own ass and worry about your own promotion. What kind of soldier would follow his commander into battle, knowing that he won’t back him up a million percent?! I find it sad, and it hurts me to write this.”