Even according to Bruberg's minimalist version, he authorized the soldier to rattle his weapon "as a deterrent," when using a weapon to frighten a restrained person is strictly forbidden by the rules of engagement. Now Bruberg is also under investigation for allegedly kicking a Palestinian. In the latter case, it is still difficult to know whether the complaint is authentic or whether it is a matter of "hitching a ride" on an officer who is clearly in trouble.
According to IDF statistics, the boy who was shot Tuesday was the first Palestinian citizen to be killed in the West Bank this year, after the killing of 34 terrorists (the Palestinians count a number of civilians killed, but they, too, concede that the number is low). That figure reflects more care in this matter than in previous years, along with a lessening of friction with the Palestinian population. The control by PA security forces in the West Bank, as well as security coordination with the IDF, are improving.
But every funeral of a child oils the wheels of the struggle and could result in major terror attacks. The Shin Bet security service notes that pictures of dead children following Operation Warm Winter in March was a major spur to the terrorist who attacked the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva.
The situation in Na'alin is the kind of problem that requires the personal attention of Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as of GOC Central Command Gad Shamni. In an interview in 2004, Ashkenazi, then deputy chief of staff, said: "My greatest concern is that the IDF will lose its humanity because of the continued fighting." That has not happened to the extent Ashkenazi feared, but neither does the chief of staff's campaign to restore discipline to the IDF after the Second Lebanon War seem to have been a great success in view of the events in Na'alin.
Related articles:
· Officer suspended after failing polygraph over Na'alin shooting
· IDF launches new probe of officer who ordered bound Palestinian shot
· Palestinian boy, 9, killed during protest at West Bank fence