IDF to punish soldiers over brawl at infantry training base

The Israel Defense Forces says it will be punishing the soldiers involved in a brawl that broke out on the Givati Infantry Brigade’s training base on Sunday, as well as their commanders.

Twenty-one soldiers were injured in the fight, eight of whom needed to be taken to the hospital, the military says, referring to the incident as “irregular and severe, which does not match the IDF’s values or the behavior expected of its soldiers.”

According to the military, the tussle broke out while soldiers from the Bedouin 585th reconnaissance unit’s training company and the Shaked Battalion’s training company were waiting in line to go into the dining hall for lunch.

Some 30 soldiers took part in the brawl, which the military says lasted roughly 10 minutes before the commander of the training class arrived and broke it up.

The commander of the Givati Brigade, Col. Itzik Cohen, conducted an investigation into the fight, which he presented to both the head of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen. Sa’ar Tzur, and the head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

“All of the soldiers who took part in the violence, and the commanders who did not fulfill their duty in preventing the incident, will be dealt with harshly, including the commanders of the platoons and teams. In addition, the commanders of the company will be reprimanded for their responsibility for the event,” the military says.

— Judah Ari Gross