Israel Investigates Reports of Soldiers Abusing Corpses

The Israeli Army has ordered an investigation into allegations that soldiers in the West Bank photographed each other two years ago posing with the head of a suicide bomber, into whose mouth they stuck a cigarette, the chief of staff, Gen. Moshe Yaalon, said today. He was responding to a report in the weekend magazine of Yediot Aharonot, the country's largest-selling daily. The newspaper also reported several incidents of the abuse of the corpses of Palestinian fighters by soldiers who then took photos. General Yaalon told army radio that any such behavior "is inappropriate for an Israeli and a Jewish soldier," adding: "Our moral fortitude is no less important than our military fortitude." He said he had ordered an investigation by the military police. "I intend to reach the truth," General Yaalon said. "God forbid if we are compared and likened to those against whom we are fighting." In one of the most gruesome acts detailed in the report, soldiers in an ultra-Orthodox unit reassembled the body parts of a Palestinian suicide bomber, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and then posing for photographs, according to the report. "Everyone was really excited," said a soldier identified as "Y." The newspaper quoted him saying, "I tried to tell them, `Are you crazy? You are disgusting.' They didn't understand what I was talking about." [more] and [more]

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