It wasn't easy to listen to the harsh words of Nitza, the mother of the late Barel Hadaria Shmueli, a Border Police officer killed on the Gaza border. Her words were painful, sharp as knives, full of endless hurt.
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A bereaved mother has the right to say anything she thinks. She earned that right by paying the highest price of all. The political and command echelons have an obligation to listen, and bow their heads. That is what generations of leaders and commanders have always done. Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan took much tougher criticism after the 1973 Yom Kippur War; Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon did the same during the First Lebanon War; Yitzhak Rabin dealt with the rage of the families of victims of terrorism as well as the heavy criticism from the family of captive navigator Ron Arad, who did not ease up on him.
But bereaved parents' pain, heavy and understandable as it might be, is neither a workplan nor policy. These are not determined in the city square or on social media (not even by a few irresponsible journalists).
What has been taking place these past few days is dangerous, bordering on anarchy. The explicit calls against military commanders are creating division between them and the soldiers they are supposed to lead into battle. This is a recipe for a hesitant, castrated military that avoids any action. It holds the seeds of a future drop in motivation, and a fear to use the ground forces in the next war.
Criticism of the army is welcome, even very welcome. This author is considered one of the harsher critics of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi. This has damaged a good working relationship that existed for years, but it's part of the job. The job of the journalist is to criticize, and his job is to lead.
But any criticism must rest on two legs – it must be fair, and it must be based on facts. And the bitter wave of backlash to Shmueli's death is rooted mostly in emotions that are stoked by cynical political officials.
The dry facts are that no one restricted the IDF in its actions near Nahal Oz two weeks ago. No prime minister, no military prosecutor, and no commanders changed the open-fire protocol or stopped the forces in the ground from operating. The decision not to open fire against the Palestinian rioters was the result of the simple fact that the IDF does not fire indiscriminately into crowds of civilians. It does so not only to keep out of The Hague, but also because Israel, its military, and its soldiers have both morals and consciences. This is what differentiates us from our enemies.
This is not policy created by this or any other government. The previous government and the ones that came before it did exactly the same. Anyone who claims otherwise is simply lying.
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Barel's death was the result of a tactical error: the decision not to evacuate the posts the moment the crowd stormed the wall. This is a mistake similar to thousands of others that happen in every battle, some of which have cost lives. It's part of battle and the uncertainty of it. No one can make decisions at home and implement them in the field. Events are fluid and demand immediate responses. Sometimes the responses are good, sometimes, not so much. It's part of the brutal profession called the military – there are no luxury wars.
Commanders have made mistakes, and will do the same in the future. If every commander who errs is sent home, there won't be any left in the army. "A society that doesn't back up its soldiers and commanders even when they make mistakes will discover that there is no one left to fight for it," the chief of staff said Saturday in a message to IDF commanders, and he was right.
If the case in question entails negligence – like the drowning incident at Nahal Hilazon – commanders should be removed from duty. But a mistake is different – every parent should pray that the commander in charge of their soldier has already made mistakes. We learn from mistakes. We draw conclusions. We improve. There isn't a general on the General Staff who hasn't made mistakes for which soldiers paid with their lives. It made them much more responsible and worthy.
This is nothing less than an existential issue. Israel has no other army. The country's leadership can be replaced at the ballot box, but not the military. Criticism is welcome, but in its current form, is dangerous and destructive. It's time to put an end to it, before it eats up the only common ground we have left.
