Israeli army tries 18 soldiers who left base during war, report says

JERUSEMALEM — The Israeli military has tried 18 soldiers from the Tzabar Battalion of the Givati Brigade who left their base at Sde Teiman during the war, accusing their commanders of abandoning them in combat, according to an Israeli newspaper report. The battalion commander, identified only as Colonel M., faced no punishment after receiving the full backing of 162nd Division Commander Brigadier General Sagiv Dahan, the Yedioth Ahronoth report said. By contrast, all soldiers identified as leading the protest were sentenced to prison terms. Courts presided over by Givati Brigade Commander Colonel Nataniel Shamka handed 30-day sentences to 17 soldiers and a 20-day sentence to another. The military plans to remove the 18 soldiers from combat service and reassign them to non-combat units, and will place about 80 soldiers and commanders who later returned to the base into a Saturday training program aimed at reinforcing discipline and values, the report said. Fourteen of the 18 were tried last Friday and the remaining four on Tuesday. Yedioth Ahronoth reported earlier this week that troops from the battalion marched south from the base singing traditional songs and protesting as their commanders used a hammer to break the battalion’s signs, calling the episode "unprecedented and extremely serious." The battalion commander told soldiers’ families they would return by 4 p.m. and described some departures as driven by "social pressure," the report added.