IDF soldier who attacked Channel 2 TV film crew jailed for 28 days

An Israel Defense Forces soldier who attacked a Channel 2 TV film crew was sentenced to Sunday to 28 days in jail. The soldier's platoon commander, who ignored the attack, was suspended from his post until the end of an investigation into the affair.

The incident took place Sunday afternoon adjacent to the West Bank settlement of Beit El, located near to Ramallah.

A patrol manned by soldiers from the Duchifat infantry battalion stopped its jeep alongside the Channel 2 crew, headed by reporter Dana Weiss, which was editing footage for a story it was preparing.

An argument broke out, during the course of which one of the patrol's soldiers attacked the team's Israeli Arab photographer Munis Zahalka. The soldier then subsequently cocked his assault rifle and aimed it at the journalists.

The platoon commander, who was present at the scene, refrained from intervening throughout the course of the entire incident.

After Channel 2 TV complained about the attack, the company and battalion commanders arrived on the scene and apologized.

Colonel Miki Edelstein, the commander of the Binyamin regional brigade responsible for the Ramallah sector, later carried out an inquiry.

The soldier involved in the incident was tried by his battalion commander and sent to jail. GOC Central Command Yair Naveh also ruled that the platoon commander be suspended from his position.