Officer indicted for Dahariya shooting

Unit headed by lieutenant unlawfully comandeered Palestinian taxi for patrol.

By YAAKOV KATZ
IDF arrest pal 298.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
IDF arrest pal 298.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
A platoon commander from the Lavi Battalion who ordered his soldiers to commandeer a taxi and shoot an innocent Palestinian bystander in the West Bank village of Dahariya was indicted on Thursday on a number of charges, including aggravated assault and conduct unbefitting of an officer. On July 26, the officer led five soldiers into Dahariya for a routine patrol. At one point, he ordered his soldiers to take over a Palestinian taxi. The team drove through the town and shot an unarmed Palestinian, who they said had aroused their suspicion. The man was later treated at a local clinic and transferred to an Israeli hospital. The IDF Prosecutor's Office has yet to decide whether charges will be pressed against the rest of the force. Three senior commanders, including Col. David Menahem, the outgoing commander of the Kfir Brigade, have been reprimanded over the incident, and all of the soldiers involved have been suspended from operational duty. According to the indictment, the officer acted on his own initiative in violation of military orders and left the wounded man on the ground without treating him. In its decision to remand the officer in custody until the end of legal proceedings, the court stated that the officer's conduct caused severe damage to the IDF. "The officer put his soldiers and the lives of the Palestinian residents in real danger," the judges wrote. "The incident was a severe deviation from all safety regulations, and the results speak for themselves."