IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir made an unusual decision to suspend all 450 soldiers from the Reserve 941st Battalion, whose members are graduates of the Netzach Yehuda framework, for the actions of several of its members.

The decision was made after a confrontation on Sunday between IDF soldiers and a CNN crew near the village of Tayasir in the Shomron, where CNN was covering the “illegal takeover of land.” A video of the confrontation shows the soldiers attempting to prevent the crew from filming and telling them that “all of the Shomron belongs to the Jews” and that they are “avenging the killing of their friend a few days earlier.”

An international media organization representing journalists in Israel and the Palestinian Authority claimed that “an IDF soldier approached the CNN cameraman from behind, grabbed him and choked him, slammed him to the ground, and damaged his camera.”

Following reports about the incident, the IDF issued a statement saying: “The behavior and statements of the soldiers in this incident do not represent the IDF, contradict expectations of IDF soldiers, and will be investigated.”

The IDF Chief of Staff later decided to dismiss the entire battalion. In a Zoom call, all the soldiers were ordered to collect their belongings and return home within 24 hours, until at least after Pesach.

The soldiers were shocked by the collective act of discipline, Ynet reported.

“It’s breaking, it hurts,” soldiers said. “You get called up five times over the past two and a half years, and now they spit on you and throw you out.”

“Why stay in the reserves? Why recruit Chareidi soldiers if you can just throw away the reservists you already have? What justification is there for treating 450 soldiers like this? Who will show up after an incident like this?” they added.

A battalion officer told Ynet that one soldier’s actions had led to punishment for the entire unit.

“There are many soldiers here who sacrifice everything, and this is a humiliating decision,” he said. “There is no comfort in sending people home on Erev Pesach. They know how to call you up when they need you, and then they spit on you.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)