Israel 'Removes' Officer Over Death: The Cavalry Arrives After The Funeral
The Israeli military made headlines by, for a change, 'reprimanding' an officer, Yoav Yarom, who was involved in an incident that killed a researcher in Lebanon, along with two of their own. According to The New Arab, Yarom will be 'terminated from service.' An officer terminated for a civilian death in Lebanon is, by Israeli military standards, an unusually harsh punishment for what they
routinely label 'collateral damage.' One might almost believe in a sudden surge of moral clarity, were it not for the fact that independent investigations into similar incidents rarely lead to such public consequences. This 'removal' (a term for what many would call 'firing') comes only after a death that couldn’t be quietly buried, a rare public concession in a pattern where Palestinian and
Lebanese civilian deaths rarely merit even an internal inquiry, let alone the public censure of a commanding officer.