ISM video
The international community was scandalized today by the sight of an Israeli soldier actually fighting back against Israel-hating thugs who harassed his fellow soldiers and broke his finger.
Lieutenant-Colonel Shalom Eisner was part of a group of soldiers guarding a crossroads in the West Bank when they were attacked by a group of Palestinian and Western activists associated with the ISM, a pro-terrorist organization that rejects Israel's existence and demands its replacement with an Arab supremacist state.
After suffering a broken finger and an injured wrist, Eisner struck out at one of his attackers, a Danish activist, striking him in the face with the underside of his M-16.
The ISM promptly posted a carefully edited video of the incident, which is promoted as showing activists being "brutally attacked." In fact, even the activist who struck in the face shows no serious injuries. Certainly, they suffered no broken bones, as did Eisner.
Lt. Col. Eisner claims that some of the protesters started attacking him with sticks which caused one of his fingers to break. He also suffered a major injury in his wrist which required a cast. "The weapon was the only thing I had in my hands. The whole thing lasted 60 seconds, we prevented them from getting on the road and they boarded the bus. Obviously, they didn't show the part where they attacked us with sticks in the video."The IDF has suspended Eisner and PM Netanyahu has publicly reprimanded him for failing to reflect the values of the IDF.
While there is no doubt that his behavior was unprofessional to a certain degree, more than a few Israelis likely believe that the lieutenant-colonel can be forgiven for losing his cool.
