Are we doing enough for our soldiers?

• Published date: 03 October 2021
• Author: DOUGLAS ALTABEF
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

There is a dual sense in this country of the Army being a rite of passage and also the attitude of "I had to deal with it, and so will you." This likely accounts for some of the inattention to the conditions many soldiers face.

The Post's recommendations are unassailable. Sadly, however, they do not go far enough. The concern for the welfare of our soldiers must include a focus on the protocols under which they are required to operate in times of stress and confrontation.

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These conditions range from the utter humiliation endured by soldiers at checkpoints and sensitive guard positions as anti-Israel demonstrators are allowed to scream into their faces with no distancing whatsoever, to the excruciating steps that a soldier must undergo before defending himself against a potential attacker.

Some of these are judgment calls where reasonable people might differ. The concern, for example, about not having a soldier act rashly, is a viable and defensible one.

Some, however, such as the requirement of having soldiers harassed by demonstrators with no recourse, must be seen as conceits by top brass eager to burnish the moral bona fides of the army.

I have never seen a convincing, let alone compelling explanation for why soldiers need to be treated as virtual punching bags. Concerns about soldiers reacting aggressively can be addressed by requiring that any demonstrator maintain a critical distance from a soldier.

The crude analogy is that soldiers are "state property," and the state will not countenance vandalism of its property. Setting distances and creating parameters for demonstrations has nothing to do with free speech, but rather human dignity and a desire to prevent physical confrontation.

Ironically, the Army's protocols have created a vacuum that pro-Israel civilians have filled. My organization, Im Tirtzu, initiated a program called "Filming the Filmers," in which our activists confront anti-Israel demonstrators in much the same fashion that the demonstrators confront our soldiers. So, while demonstrators are filming at close, dare I say, intimate distance from soldiers, our activists return the favor to the demonstrators.

This "sauce for the goose, for the gander" attitude might also be seen as two wrongs that don't make a right. However, if that is true, it means the underlying protocol is wrong, which it clearly...