New footage shows Eisner attacking foreign activists in last week’s incident

Footage filmed by Palestinian TV and newly released by human rights organization B’tselem shows Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner, former deputy commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade, attacking foreign protesters during the incident a week ago that led to his being stripped of his post.

While previous footage showed Eisner striking Danish pro-Palestinian activist Andreas Ayas in the face with his rifle, the new video shows some of the events that preceded the incident, as Israeli forces confronted the activists on route 90 near Jericho in the West Bank. In it, Eisner can be seen shouting “Go home! What is this? I told you, this is an illegal protest!” while hitting foreign demonstrators and pushing them back. Eisner then hits Ayas in the face, going on to pull a female protester by the hair.

Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz dismissed Eisner from his duties as deputy commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade Wednesday, after the officer was filmed hitting Ayas last Saturday.

Eisner will not be allowed to fill a command position for the next two years. He told colleagues, “I did not expect this to be the decision. I thought they accepted my version of events and understood it. They showed me the door out. I need to digest the decision and then plan my future.”

The decision to remove Eisner was taken by Gantz after consulting with senior IDF staff. A press release Wednesday announced that Eisner’s removal was “on moral grounds” and that there were “professional and command failures.”

Eisner had been slated to take over as deputy commander of the IDF Officer School later this year.

Eisner said on Tuesday that he made an error in professional judgement, but rejected the suggestion that his actions amounted to a moral failure. He also criticized the IDF chief of General Staff, the head of the Central Command, and his division commander for their response to the incident and its backlash.

The initial findings of a Military Police investigation indicated that the soldiers Eisner was commanding at the scene of the incident were not adequately prepared for the episode. Eisner decided not to use crowd control measures, even though they were at his disposal. The Border Police contingent that was summoned to assist Eisner and his men did not arrive because it was dealing with another incident. One of Eisner’s soldiers was supposed to record the incident, but the battery in his camera died before the flare-up began.

During the course of the investigation, Eisner repeated his claim that he was attacked and wounded by one of the protesters. He said he had been hit from behind and had two fingers broken, and he “thought” Ayas had been his attacker, but admitted that his response was wrong.

Ayas, who required stitches for a split lip, said that the suggestion that he had broken the officer’s fingers was “a direct lie.” Activists said Eisner also hit another protester and two Palestinians.