IDF Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eizenkot wrote a special letter to IDF soldiers in light of the event involving a soldier who shot dead a seemingly neutralized terrorist in Hevron.
“Since its establishment, the IDF has engraved on its flag the value of persisting during tasks and striving towards victory, and sanctified important values, including human honor of the purity of weapons. Those values lean on years of Jewish heritage, on a nation who values life.”
“In every action and in every situation, we must act professionally, while using focused, measured and considered force, in order to meet our goals and be faithful to our principles. Officers and soldiers, the IDF entrusts in your hands the full responsibility for the task: to protect the state. The commanders, with me at the head, will continue to back any soldier who errs in the heat of battle, against an enemy who endangers civilians and soldiers. That being said, we will not hesitate to exact justice with soldiers and officers who deviate from the moral and operational parameters we work within,” Eizenkot wrote.
“Maintaining the spirit of the IDF and its principles is not a right, but an obligation, so that we can keep the IDF as the nation’s army within a Jewish ad democratic state. The nation’s eyes are upon us in hopes of security, while maintaining the moral image of the IDF at the center of national consensus. We will continue to stand guard in order to fulfill our destiny: to defend the citizens, to win the war, and to ensure the continued existence of the State of Israel, which maintaining our principles. This is our strength.”