Last update - 00:00 03/08/2007
IDF censures ex-battalion chief over shooting of innocent Palestinian
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces formally censured Friday a former battalion chief who commanded the soldiers who hijacked a Palestinian taxi and seriously wounded a Palestinian civilian near Hebron last week.
Despite the fact that he stopped commanding the battalion three weeks prior to the incident, IDF GOC Central Command Gadi Shamni decided to censure Lieutenant Colonel Didi Sadan due to the improper norms that existed in the battalion when it was under his command.
Shamni also ordered that the incident be noted in the soldiers' brigade commander, Colonel David Menachem. Menachem is set to complete his service in the position in the coming days, for unrelated reasons.
The incident was also noted in incoming Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Amit Yamin's record, for his failure "to recognize professional failures on an operational level in the battalion."
The decision on the company commander's fate was handed over to the division commander.
"This was a very grave incident," said Shamni. "Our obligation as commanders is to ensure that such things don't happen again."
The Investigative Military Police investigation into the soldiers involved is still underway. An internal inquiry conducted in the Central Command revealed serious ethical failures in the infantry battalion.