Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke out harshly Wednesday against the “Kotel mutiny,” in which newly sworn-in soldiers from the Shimshon infantry battalion held up a placard against the eviction of Jews from Homesh in Shomron (Samaria).
"This is a very grave and anomalous event, which has damaged the IDF, the state and the special character of the [swearing-in] ceremony,” Barak said in the Knesset. "We will not allow the use of IDF soldiers for advancing this or another political position or move,” he said. “This is a fundamentally flawed act which hurts the IDF and tries to undermine the foundations of democracy.”
The commander of Kfir Regiment, which Shimshon Battalion is a part of, expelled the two soldiers who held up the sign from Shimshon. In addition, they were sentenced to 20 days in military prison.
The Homesh First activist group praised the soldiers, saying that “even if these brave soldiers are thrown into jail for a year, this will not change the fact that they have brought dignity back to the IDF and drew a clear line between the IDF and political evictions., for the first time since the Expulsion.”
The group called on IDF commanders to do some "soul searching" in order to “determine what it was about the evictions that brought about such a level of disgruntlement.”