Shock As Soldiers Not Arrested For Shooting Attackers

Yaalon said the IDF cannot sink to the level of its enemies by actually killing people.

Kalandia Checkpoint, April 27 – Hours after a pair of Palestinian siblings attacked soldiers here with knives and were shot in the attempt, the soldiers who fired the shots that neutralized the attackers have not been arrested or placed under investigation for murder, IDF sources reported this afternoon.

A brother and sister tried to stab soldiers manning the Kalandia checkpoint today, but were shot and killed before they could stab anyone. No soldiers were wounded. An uproar has ensued in the defense establishment and news media amid revelations that, despite clear precedent, no murder charges are being considered against the troops who shot the assailants.

“I don’t understand,” said Army Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot. “You mean they’re not following procedure? What kind of outfit are we if we don’t treat soldiers who kill terrorists as criminals?” He vowed an inquiry into the process that did not result in at least an arraignment of the two soldiers.

“I think we should wait until all the information is in before we jump to any conclusion that proper procedure wasn’t followed,” intoned Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon. “We just don’t know enough yet to say whether anything inappropriate is going on at the Chief Prosecutor’s office.” He also promised to verify that proper protocols were followed in not immediately arresting and charging the soldiers who killed their attackers, and repeated his mantra that the IDF cannot sink to the level of its enemies by actually killing people.

Parents of soldiers serving in combat units expressed similar confusion. “Ever since the incident in Hebron in which a soldier shot and killed a wounded terrorist, I’ve been conditioned to assume that our boys are assumed to be in the wrong every time a Palestinian dies,” said Galia Peled, who has three sons in the IDF infantry. “How am I supposed to instill into my sons the proper moral cowardice and hesitation in the face of danger the army has established that it wants? I just need some consistency. Or not. Just something to doubt the justice of our military’s actions.”

“It’s unsettling,” confessed TV commentator Attila Somfalvi. “The international media – and the Israeli media, as well, to some extent – ceaselessly hammers home the narrative that the IDF is a trigger-happy, murderous group of thugs – and now, when there’s ample opportunity for the army to showcase its agreement, it chooses to against that picture. It’s like they’re not listening to us at all.”