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Unit 8200 refuseniks
Out & About
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Opinion
Mutiny in the Israeli Stasi: exposing the occupation's
worst filth
HAARETZ SELECT
The elite intel unit veterans took a milestone in announcing they will no longer serve the
occupation. In their footsteps, perhaps, a few veterans of the Shin Bet security service will
also come forward and talk about what they did at work.
By Gideon Levy | Sep. 14, 2014 | 3:29 AM |
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Israel Defense Forces' Unit 8200.
3
Photo by Moti Milrod
The 43 veterans of the elite intel unit who announced that
they will no longer agree to serve the occupation have
made a double contribution to Israeli society.
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Like other conscientious objectors, including soldiers and
military pilots, these members of Unit 8200 are
courageous and moral. But their refusal has an additional
dimension, the likes of which have never been seen before
in Israel. They etched another scar into the ugly face of
the Israeli occupation, deeper than the ones that preceded
it, because it involves the darkest and most base sides of
the occupation’s malignant routine. In a healthy society,
the reservists’ action and their disclosures would have set
off real shock waves. But in Israel, all the systems of
defense, offense and propaganda, of ridicule and denial,
have already been co-opted for the purpose of swiftly
burying this important letter by objector-spies.
They, too, are among the finest of our
youth, perhaps the best – almost like the
pilots. Unit 8200, the largest unit of the
Israel Defense Forces, has the right of
second pick, after the air force, in selecting
Send to friend
8200 letter sheds light on ethics of
Israeli intel
For the first time, a distinction has been drawn
between intel gathering against Israel's enemies, and
spying on ordinary Palestinian citizens.
By Anshel Pfeffer | Diplomacy and Defense
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recruits. Their image is sparkling – and
their future is assured; tech firms lie in
wait for them. Their military service is free
of risk and – like the pilots – they don’t see
their victims up close. Until now, their
service was nearly free of ethical qualms.
They do not kill, beat or carry out arrests,
they are jobniks, desk jockeys with
prestige, the kind of child nearly every
parent would want. Their weapon is their
intelligence, their computer and other
sophisticated instruments; their bunker is
their office. A large part of their work, it
must be stressed, is vital and legitimate.
And still, Unit 8200 is Israel’s Stasi.
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Listen to the Unit 8200
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By Haaretz Editorial |01:16 AM |
3
Opposition leader rebukes 'call for
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By Gili Cohen and Jonathan Lis
In contrast to the East German intelligence
service, its Israeli successor targets not
IDF spokesperson: Discipline of Unit 8200
citizens of the state, but rather the
refuseniks will be sharp and clear
Palestinians who are subject to its
By Haaretz | Sep. 14, 2014 | 11:58 AM |
2
occupation. Anything may be done to
Netanyahu: letter by refuseniks from elite intel
them, using means the Stasi would have
unit 8200 was 'baseless slander'
envied. Like the Stasi, it involves not only
By Barak Ravid | Sep. 14, 2014 | 7:41 PM |
7
intelligence gathering and espionage, but
also mechanisms to control, extort and
Listen to the Unit 8200 objectors
Haaretz Editorial | Sep. 15, 2014 | 1:16 AM |
3
exploit an entire nation. This is based on
erecting an enormous army of
collaborators and informers, recruited through the vicious
exploitation of their weaknesses, needs, illnesses and
sexual orientations.
Sep. 13, 2014 | 11:50 PM |
Thanks to Unit 8200, an entire nation exists without the
right to privacy. The great contribution of the new
objectors is that they have told us about this. In their
Arabic studies, they were taught all the forms of the
Arabic word for “homosexual” – because they need it.
They were required to find out about the sexual
orientation, health and financial problems of tens of
thousands of individuals. Perhaps there’s a nephew on
Israel’s list of wanted terrorists, perhaps a cousin who’s
wanted for questioning, offering an opportunity for
extortion. Perhaps they’ll agree to talk about the nextdoor neighbor in exchange for a chemotherapy treatment;
a report in return for surgery; snitching in exchange for
an income boost; a bit of information in return for a night
in Tel Aviv.
This despicable collecting work – there’s no other way to
describe it – is done by soldiers of the Israel Defense
Forces, and “every Jewish mother should know” this.
They collect important security information, and
alongside it also political and personal information, and
they mark targets for assassination. A few of them tried to
talk about it over the weekend, and the radio and
television stations rocked with laughter. The
commentators vied with each other for adjectives:
“trippy,” “scandalous,” “negligible,” “spoiled brats” and,
worst of all, “politicos” and “lefties” – in unison, of course.
No one came to the defense of a group of people who,
until Thursday, were a source of pride. Not even activists
from the LGBT community, who are called in after any
inappropriate comment about lesbians, gays, bisexuals
and transgenders. They have been silent about the
persecution of their Palestinian counterparts by the state,
which brags about its enlightened attitude toward the gay
community.
That’s Israel for you. As long as the members of Unit
8200 were up to their arms in the filth of the occupation,
4
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they were considered principled young men and women,
and were respected. But as soon as they decided they’d
had enough, they became targets for ridicule and
ostracism. The step they have taken is a milestone. In
their footsteps, perhaps, a few veterans of the Shin Bet
security service – the other pillar of the Israeli Stasi in the
territories – will also come forward and finally talk about
what they did at work. Their commanders already did,
partially, in “The Gatekeepers.”
The military and media establishment will quickly stomp
on the 43 objectors, but perhaps they will not be
forgotten. From out of the deepest darkness, they broke
the silence.
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LATEST
MOST VIEWED
14
By Kameel
13
By zionist forever
HIGHEST RATED
there are no words
15 Sep 2014
Open All
1
01:22PM
for them its just a morality issue
15 Sep 2014
09:05AM
0
12
By leh
11
By Anna Kemp
10
By Florence
09
Gideon really? Are you serious? You believe the Pals are
all innocent so no Shin Beth needed?
Mr. Levy
16
15 Sep 2014
06:38AM
Gideon Levy and the 43
27
15 Sep 2014
06:29AM
Thank you Gideon Levy!
By arthur
14 Sep 2014
14 Sep 2014
51
10:00PM
right
08 Byexactly
Michael Lesher
07
33
09:40PM
You believe that Israel treats Palestinians justly?
With that intel, why continue dispossessing them
from their lands? Surely
By Arthur really?
17
15 Sep 2014
0
0
00:45PM
36
14 Sep 2014
09:15PM
whats the difference between a jobnick and a soldier in
an elite unit?
6
27
7
36
is integral member of the occupation
05 ByLevi
Omar Jaabri 14 Sep 2014 07:55PM
1
35
Levy you are a hero, unusually strong
04 ByMrDavid
Previn 14 Sep 2014 06:56PM
35
03
44
By zionist forever
14 Sep 2014
puh-lease.
06 ByOhCrunchy
14 Sep 2014
08:53PM
08:47PM
If they're doing it to Palestinians, they're doing it to
Israelis
By Tara Jane
14 Sep 2014
06:06PM
be proud to have journalists like Gideon Levy!
02 ByIsrael,
Todolosabe 14 Sep 2014 05:34PM
41
01
20
Levi you are a disgrace
By George Hope
14 Sep 2014
How about admitting the harm that Israel has
done ti Israel.
By Melissa
14 Sep 2014
14 Sep 2014
Israeli Stasi
By Syed Majid
14 Sep 2014
43
6
07:32PM
A man has to make a living somehow.
By Darth Zaider (Ed)
155
04:34AM
3
21
07:40PM
49
4
10:10PM
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