It has been reported that Israeli soldiers told veteran groups that the war this year was like entering the “moral twilight zone” and that Palestinian houses were destroyed by “insane artillery power”. Israel can brace herself for war crimes allegations taken to a new level after this revelation.

I do understand that Israel needs to defend herself. She is in a neighborhood in which many other countries do not even bother to recognize her existence. She has been attacked in her history for committing the “crime” of existence. I fully understand why Jews need an Israel.

However, I have always believed that one should never act out of fear. “Never let your heart rule your head.” That is a priceless advise that my father gave me that has proven to be true time and time again. That was exactly what happened in the Gaza offensive earlier this year.

Rockets were raining on their grounds. Elections were coming up. There was tremendous amount of pressure to react. There was fear. And with that fear in mind, the Israeli government thrust her soldiers into battle. They did not have proper intelligence. Many claimed that they did not even know who the enemy was. The Miami Herald reported that one solder said that in urban warfare, they viewed everyone as an enemy, everyone was a threat.

Could this be a result of a lack of training? Most armies around the world should be trained in Urban Operations, particularly Israel. I really doubt it was the lack of training in UO, given Israeli history and her excellent track record in urban warfare.

This is just speculation on my behalf, but this is what I think happened. Unlike the American Army, majority of the Israeli army are conscripts. I do not doubt their will to fight and die for Israel. But I think there was a lack of time that was needed for the transition in mental focus to go from a civilian life to that of war.

I think that it is a sad case when an army attacks not knowing who the enemies are. While an Army commander would love to have their soldiers back on in one piece whatever the cost, there should be a genuine effort not to bomb civilian targets and not to harm civilians. Using human shields and white phosphorus should not be tolerated at all.

In this case, I think that the Israelis broke the law. I think that those responsible for making these decisions should be punished. I would even go as far as to say that the Israelis should apologize to the people in Gaza for committing these crimes.

I hope that the world never have to see this again. This is not going to help the peace efforts in the Middle East which is so important for the rest of the world.

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