IDF to crack down on bare soldier pics

After a slew of recent incidents in which soldiers posted pictures and videos of themselves and their fellow recruits in states of little or no dress on social media platforms, the military upper brass has decided to put an end to it, opting to restrict its outstanding reputation to the battlefront.

According to Walla news, IDF Ground Forces commander Brig. Gen. Guy Tzur recently instructed Brig. Gen. Yossi Morley, the chief officer of the Engineering Corps, to form a committee consisting of senior representatives of all IDF corps, divisions and branches, to find suitable means to address the trend.

The IDF investigation will zero in on two separate aspects of the pictures and videos that have surfaced in recent months, many of them showing female soldiers in their underwear and partial battle equipment. One focus will be the moral-ethical aspect of the photos in terms of those posing and taking the pictures. The IDF will also focus on the criminal aspect for the many cases in which images were uploaded to social media platforms without the consent of the soldiers themselves. Most, but not all, of the incidents have involved female soldiers.

In early June, several photos of female soldiers surfaced on social media showing them in their barracks wearing only their underwear and their M-16s.

This incident occurred just days after three new recruits stationed on a base in southern Israel posed for pictures that showed them removing their fatigue uniforms to expose their underwear and backsides. The pictures were posted on Facebook.

At the time, the IDF told The Times of Israel the young women had acted in a manner that showed “unbecoming behavior” for Israeli soldiers. “The commanding officers disciplined the soldiers as they saw fit,” it said.

Later that month, a female recruit released a video taken with her cellphone of fellow soldiers performing “stripper dances” in their barracks. The women can be heard encouraging one another, with one of them telling another to “dance on the rifle like a slut.” The camerawoman can also be heard saying that she planned to post the video on Facebook and tag those who participated.

In 2012, five women posed in what appeared to be a barracks room, dressed only in helmets and their combat vests. The faces of the soldiers were blurred in the photos.

In February of this year, the IDF reprimanded a male American-Israel soldier serving in the Golani Brigade who posted photos of himself naked — with a rifle concealing his genitals — and making derogatory comments about Arabs on his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.