IDF shows fake, squirting amputated legs to kids on Independence Day

Soldiers from Etzion Brigade also paint pretend shrapnel wounds on young children as part of display for the Medical Corps

By Judah Ari Gross 2 May 2017, 7:54 pm

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Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Soldiers from the Etzion Brigade show off a pair of fake 'squirting' amputated legs to a child in the Tekoa settlement as part of an army display for Independence Day on May 2, 2017. (Courtesy)

Each year for Independence Day, the IDF opens its bases and visits communities in order to build ties with the population, but on Tuesday, the army may not have put its best foot forward in the Tekoa settlement, showing young children fake, bloody amputated legs in its display about the Medical Corps.

The soldiers from the IDF’s Etzion Brigade in the West Bank also painted gruesome shrapnel wounds on the children’s arms and legs, according to a parent who was present.

The Etzion Brigade visits a different West Bank settlement in its region each year on Independence Day. This year the brigade’s soldiers set up their open house in Tekoa, south of Bethlehem.

As usual, tanks and armored personnel carriers were put on display, with children allowed to learn about and climb on them.

Soldiers from the Etzion Brigade draw fake shrapnel wounds on children, in front of a pair of fake amputated legs, in the Tekoa settlement as part of an army display for Independence Day on May 2, 2017. (Courtesy)

The medical unit also set up a display showing fake amputated legs, complete with shredded muscle and exposed arteries. The fake limbs are used by the military for training purposes so they are designed to be as realistic as possible, including a pump that simulates blood flow.

According to the parent, who asked not to be named, the soldiers “squirted fluid” through the legs, but it was “more transparent fluid, not the same color as blood.”

Soldiers from the Etzion Brigade draw fake shrapnel wounds on children in the Tekoa settlement as part of an army display for Independence Day on May 2, 2017. (Courtesy)

The display was fully exposed, allowing children of all ages to see the bloody sight.

According to the parent, children as young as three and four years old visited the display.

A fake shrapnel wound drawn on a child in the Tekoa settlement as part of a display by the IDF's Etzion Brigade medical unit for Independence Day on May 2, 2017. (Courtesy) — A fake shrapnel wound drawn on a child in the Tekoa settlement as part of a display by the IDF’s Etzion Brigade medical unit for Independence Day on May 2, 2017. (Courtesy)

The kids were also given fake wounds, using the same paints and techniques the army uses for training purposes, which are also designed to be as realistic as possible.

The IDF did not immediately respond to a Times of Israel request for comment on the display.