43 Israeli intelligence reservists vow to stop spying on Palestinians

The letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was signed by 43 reservists, of whom 10 are officers, from the 8200 signal intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces’ intelligence corps.

“The intelligence gathered harms innocents and is used for political persecution and for invading most areas of Palestinians’ lives,” the 43 reservists wrote. “Our conscious no longer permits us to serve this system.”

43 Israeli intelligence reservists vow to stop spying on Palestinians

As someone who has followed the conflict I can't say I'm really surprised, I mean even soldiers must question themselves when those above are yelling "self-defense" while ordering them to kill women & kids or as Israeli leaders call it "mowing the lawn".

Additionally:

One of the cosignatories, a reserves captain who was not named, said in an interview with Army Radio that when he was enlisted into the 8200 unit over a decade ago, he did so “knowing I would be carrying out important work in defense of Israel. Today we realize the situation is different, and that the unit’s central task is not defense but ruling another people” by “dividing Palestinian society and weakening Palestinian politics.”

Spoken as it really is, Israel have been cutting Gaza from the West Bank for years to cause more division via various pre-texts:

Operations Cast Lead and Pillar of Defense
Israel soon had a pretext for violating the November Agreement more severely. In January 2006, the Palestinians committed a serious crime. They voted "the wrong way" in carefully monitored free elections, placing the parliament in the hands of Hamas. Israel and the United States immediately imposed harsh sanctions, telling the world very clearly what they mean by "democracy promotion." Europe, to its shame, went along as well.

chomsky.info...

I find it incredible that even the most staunch supporter of Israel could still believe that the conflict with Palestinians was ever about "self-defense".

So Israel is backing off in some small way from "spying" on Gazans and the West Bankians?

Wow, gee, impressed… not.

Maybe they just don't need them anymore due to ever advancing surveillance technology.

originally posted by: intrptr
So Israel is backing off in some small way from "spying" on Gazans and the West Bankians?

Wow, gee, impressed… not.

Maybe they just don't need them anymore due to ever advancing surveillance technology.

Amazing you can read, impressed... not

I'll quote again:

“The intelligence gathered harms innocents and is used for political persecution and for invading most areas of Palestinians’ lives,” the 43 reservists wrote. “Our conscious no longer permits us to serve this system.”

One word and only one and i know darned well that this is not allowed:

PROPAGANDA...

Kindest respects

Rodinus

a reply to: Zcustosmorum

I'll quote again:

Quote away.

Sorry, nobody believes Israel anymore.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Zcustosmorum

I'll quote again:

Quote away.

Sorry, nobody believes Israel anymore.

Those Israeli troops certainly don't

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Zcustosmorum

I'll quote again:

Quote away.

Sorry, nobody believes Israel anymore.

Those Israeli troops certainly don't

Okay, Touche.

a reply to: Zcustosmorum
But the other 8,157 will continue.

Never trust the words of an Israeli. No amount of PR can salvage their reputation; no amount of verbal assault or guilt-tripping will rally anyone to their defense. Their whole mindset is "We reserve the right as the "chosen" to change our minds and break our promises at anytime and if you take issue your an antisemite". They are as much fanatical megalomaniacs as their so-called enemies and always have been.

I have zero respect for the sad state of isreal, zero respect at all. That said I have been hoping forever now, that the actual isreali people will wake the # up and see they are being used as pawns and get rid of their psychotic government. Sure there are some real scumbags living in isreal, but I just can't fathom that the racist scumbags are a vast majority.

Who knows, maybe these guys will start the snowball rolling down the hill that will become the isreali spring.

Imagine the guts it took to write that letter. Imagine the inner conflict raging between their hearts and minds that have been subject to the most intensive indoctrination on the planet.

The fact that their hearts won out is a big deal and cause for celebration. We as a species are coming to a turning point.

We are truly witnessing a global awakening. I am certain things will continue to speed up towards peace.

The dark side has lost control of instilling hatred in our hearts. There will be no WWIII, no armegedon.

I agree with Serrated Soul...
This sounds like PR...

& propaganda...imo...



Good for them, initially, they should join Breaking The Silence Organisation!!!

Surely the intelligence committee of Israel will find away to bury this story and come up with a conflicting narrative that makes them sound like traitors!!!

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs
I missed that one, good stuff.

originally posted by: SerratedSoul
Never trust the words of an Israeli. No amount of PR can salvage their reputation; no amount of verbal assault or guilt-tripping will rally anyone to their defense. Their whole mindset is "We reserve the right as the "chosen" to change our minds and break our promises at anytime and if you take issue your an antisemite". They are as much fanatical megalomaniacs as their so-called enemies and always have been.

The sad part is that Israel could go around putting babies on spikes and America would still support them. When you have the people like Pastor John Hagee who if he had his way would turn control of America to Israel are part of a group pastors that run mega churches and Evangelical Christians that twist their faith to get people to support the state of Israel. Also you have AIPAC that practically controls our foreign policy and owns many politicians also guarantees support for Israel regardless of what the people say.

Self hated jews..??
Second line…

An update on the army unit in question:

Unit 8200, with which the ex-soldier who gave this testimony did his army service, is not just any unit in the Israeli army. Originally a unit responsible for collecting signal intelligence, it has become the largest unit in the Israeli army, and probably its most prestigious one. It is alleged to have capabilities to monitor every phone call or transmission or electronic data in any spot in the Middle East (and maybe beyond), to store this huge bulk of information and process it in an extremely sophisticated way so it can be used for precise military actions, from hitting a secret nuclear site in Syria to targeted killings in Gaza.

And a bit about what they do:

"If you're homosexual and know someone who knows a wanted person, Israel will make your life miserable. If you need emergency medical treatment in Israel, the West Bank or abroad - we will search for you. The state of Israel will allow you to die before we let you leave for treatment without giving information on your wanted cousin. If you interest unit 8200 and don’t have anything to do with any hostile activity, you’re [still] an objective."

www.middleeasteye.net...

It should be interesting to see exactly the effect that this story has

Another update on this and the IDF has responded with:

The soldiers and commanders signatory to the letter have used the army to express a political stance, Almoz said, adding: "There is no place for refusal in the IDF. There are arguments and there are political stances. Celebration of democracy…. What happened here, in my eyes? Exploitation of military service to express a political stance."

www.haaretz.com...

My interpretation of Israels "celebration of democracy", fight for us and if need be die for us and do not question the things we tell you... even if the war you're fighting isn't exactly what we say it is.

I suppose that could apply to many armies around the globe but Israel just seem to be so blatanly in denial of the atrocities they've committed and the affect it is having on those at the front lines.