65% of Israeli Jews oppose criminal prosecution for soldiers suspected of raping Palestinian detainees
Screenshot from an Israeli Channel 12 report on the sexual assault and rape of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison
Jonathan Ofir writes in Mondoweiss on 19 August 2024:
A shocking poll published on August 18 by the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies surveys attitudes concerning various aspects of what Israel calls “Swords of Iron” — the genocide of the last ten months and counting.
The poll asks, among else, how people would want to handle the soldiers suspected of gang-raping Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman torture facility if it turned out that the suspicions were strong. 65%, almost two out of three Jewish Israelis, opposed criminal prosecution, and would prefer them be “handled in a disciplinary manner, by the commanding level only.”
The survey asked the question:
Recently, the military prosecution requested to extend the arrest of the five soldiers suspected of gross abuse, and clarified that there is added evidence which strengthens the suspicion against them. In your opinion, if it turns out that there is basis for the suspicion against the suspects, in which way should they be handled?”
Only 28% of Jewish Israelis answered that “they should stand criminal trial”; 14% of Jewish Israelis didn’t know.
It is now clear, that the torture of Palestinians in this network of torture camps is systemic, as also documented by B’tselem in their report Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps. High brass is involved in this, so the idea that the gang rapists would be disciplined by their own commanders is tantamount to letting them off the hook. Two-thirds of Jewish Israelis are saying that there is simply nothing criminal here — only “bad behavior,” at worst.
And this seems to strengthen the pattern that has been documented: not only do Israelis seem to generally enjoy watching snuff videos of this systemic torture — they generally support the sexual violence, including rape, that has accompanied it. It confirms what we saw last week when Israeli journalist Yehuda Shlezinger lamented on Israel’s mainstream Channel 12 how gang rape is not an approved and regulated policy in Israeli detention centers.
That figure, 65%, also echoes the February poll saying that 68% of Jewish Israelis “oppose the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza residents at this time,” even if Hamas or UNRWA were out of the picture in terms of distribution.