A new species of officer is achieving greatness in the Israel Defense Forces. These people did most of their service as occupation officers, and their excellence is a function of the degree of violence and brutality they exercise against the Palestinians. The most striking example of this trend is Brigadier General Gadi Shamni, a graduate of Lebanon and Hebron, who last week concluded his tour of duty as commander of the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and was promoted to head of the Operations Division in the General Staff, a post which is a major step on the way to becoming a major general.
The promotion of an officer of this type speaks volumes about the IDF's value system and its order of priorities, far more than what it says about Shamni himself. Perhaps not since the days when Ariel Sharon was a serving major general has the Gaza Strip seen an officer as violent, as boastful and as brutal as General Shamni. If Shamni's predecessor, Brigadier General Yisrael Ziv, only mounted numerous useless operations against the lathes of Gaza, which also resulted in nothing more than unnecessary bloodshed but didn't prevent the firing of Qassam rockets at Israeli targets, along came Shamni and initiated a series of showcase operations - totally pointless and only generated even more killing. In the last of these operations, the one that resulted in the killing of 15 Palestinians last week, Shamni even articulated a new IDF doctrine: "stimulus and response." The purpose of the operation, it was reported, was "to stimulate the armed individuals to come out and then kill them off." This method, which led to the killing of innocent people, including children, drew no critical reaction. No one asked why every armed Palestinian is marked for death and why it's necessary to "stimulate" armed people in Gaza altogether. Shamni decided, executed and was promoted. Some in the IDF also explained that the latest operation was actually meant to be a "farewell party" on the eve of the ceremony of the handover of command. Text at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/404272.html
