Last update - 00:00 24/08/2007
Dahariya officer's lawyers: Probe into West Bank op was flawed
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
Attorneys defending the platoon commander being investigated by the Military Police for violations during an operation in a Palestinian village claim that the investigation's integrity has been violated and field security has been breached.
The defense team for Lieutenant G. are also demanding a criminal investigation against officers in Central Command suspected of violating the integrity of a separate operational investigation carried out after the incident.
In a letter to the military advocate general, Brigadier General Avihai Mandelblit, the defense attorneys say evidence in the investigation carried out by the Israel Defense Forces was made available to the Military Police, and this constitutes a breach of regulations and undermines the integrity of the process.
The defense team, attorney Shlomo Tzipori and Captain Sivan Hausman, also write that "there are apparent suspicions that serious damage has been caused to the concept of the operational investigation," hinting that there has also been a breach of field security.
In response, Mandelblit wrote that he does not intend to order a criminal investigation and noted that the claim is a matter of interpretation.
Investigations that include debriefings are carried out regularly to learn from the experiences of soldiers taking part in operations. The findings are normally classified and not released to sources outside the command structure such as the Military Police.
The incident for which Lieutenant G. is being held occurred near the West Bank village of Dahariya in July. An IDF force operating contrary to regulations, in an undercover capacity, kidnapped a Palestinian taxi driver and used his vehicle.
'Behavior unbecoming'
At a later stage, one of the soldiers shot and wounded an unarmed Palestinian who was left unattended where he fell.
The officer was charged with behavior unbecoming an officer, causing aggravated injury, and making unauthorized use of a vehicle. He is being held in custody until the investigation is over.
It has still not been decided whether to try the other soldiers in the force.
At a preliminary hearing earlier this week, the defense attorneys presented the court's president, Colonel Avi Halevy, with their claims that the integrity of the investigation had been breached. The judge ordered the Military Police to respond to the claims.