Two IDF Battalion Commander trials resulted in 15 days in prison for a female corporal who “behaved shamefully” when she was documented burning a Palestinian flag, a.k.a. the flag of the PLO terrorist organization. A female Sergeant was sentenced to 14 days for documenting the act and posting it on social networks, according to Torat Lehima (Lit. military tactics, alluding to the good, old, unencumbered spirit of the IDF).
“It turns out that terrorist flags receive official support not only at Tel Aviv University, or in anti-government protests,” Torat Lehima commented, “The disciplinary law in the IDF (the Military Prosecutor’s Office) is also aligning and getting stricter in a delusional manner, on the backs of soldiers.
The two female soldiers serve in the Lavi Battalion in Jordan Valley.
In 2012, then MKs Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari set Palestinian flags on fire in front of the Knesset building in Jerusalem, in protest of the UN vote to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority. The two right-wing MKs chose the Knesset after police prevented them from setting the PLO flags on fire in front of the UN headquarters in Armon HaNatziv. There were clashes between the police and right-wing demonstrators and three were arrested.
In 2016, two fighters of the Kfir division were disciplined for burning a Palestinian flag they had removed from a vehicle that was being checked for weapons and explosives. Two of the soldiers faced disciplinary hearings, following which one was sent to jail and the other stayed on base on Shabbat.
