February 16, 2008:
The Israeli army has
prosecuted one of its lieutenants (Yaakov Gigi) for undertaking an unauthorized
intelligence mission into the West Bank last year, and shooting a Palestinian
civilian along the way. The lieutenant was busted down to private and sentenced
to 15 months in jail. Last July, Gigi, whose unit patrolled part of the West
Bank around the town of Hebron, decided to carry out an undercover
reconnaissance mission, in search of Palestinian terrorists, without asking
permission. He, and five of his soldiers, changed into civilian clothes and
commandeered a Palestinian cab. When they encountered a Palestinian man who
"looked suspicious", one of the soldiers shot him, and left the man bleeding in
the street. Considering their mission compromised, the Israelis went back to
their base. When Israeli commanders heard about the shooting, they went looking
for who did it. They eventually found Gigi and his five troops, who at first
denied everything.
The Israelis do a lot of undercover
work in the West Bank, but use specially trained police and commandos for it,
and carefully plan every move. The speed with which Gigis team was identified
and prosecuted was meant to make it clear that this kind of freelancing will
not be tolerated.