The Israeli army’s top law officer has been assigned to investigate the legality of the incident. A statement by the military at the end of last year insisted that every shooting of an innocent Palestinian must be investigated within 72 hours, though soldiers continue to receive light sentences for such actions.
Ma’ariv cited senior officers as saying, “If Lieutenant A begins legal procedures against the decision to dismiss him, that might arouse a problem in the IDF. One must remember that in July the International Criminal Court (ICC) went into operation, whose rules the IDF is supposed to be committed to. The issue of a patently illegal order is very complex and if it were to be decided in this case that the officer truly thought that in the wake of his deeds innocent people would be hurt, it would have far-reaching effects on all IDF activity.”
According to the law, anyone in the chain of operation of the illegal action and not only those who fire the missile, could be put on trial, and therefore the issue of a patently illegal order is also relevant to Unit 8200.
Ma’ariv cited senior officers as saying, “If Lieutenant A begins legal procedures against the decision to dismiss him, that might arouse a problem in the IDF. One must remember that in July the International Criminal Court (ICC) went into operation, whose rules the IDF is supposed to be committed to. The issue of a patently illegal order is very complex and if it were to be decided in this case that the officer truly thought that in the wake of his deeds innocent people would be hurt, it would have far-reaching effects on all IDF activity.”
According to the law, anyone in the chain of operation of the illegal action and not only those who fire the missile, could be put on trial, and therefore the issue of a patently illegal order is also relevant to Unit 8200.