Monday, January 10, 2011

The Spirit of the IDF - Pt. 2/2

Standing in an Israeli Soldier's Shoes
Now that you have some background on what Israel is up against, it is time to take your place on the front lines and make decisions about what you would do if faced with the type of dilemmas Israeli soldiers face every day....

1) At a checkpoint in the West Bank. Your job is to check people and vehicles that are requesting entrance into Israel. On a typical day many Palestinian Arabs cross over from the West Bank into Israel proper, mainly for work and often for medical reasons (many Palestinians use hospitals in Israel). They line up at checkpoints so the Israeli Army can search each person and vehicle to make sure they are not carrying weapons.

According to intelligence information you’ve received, an ambulance is expected to arrive with a wanted terrorist in it carrying an explosive belt for a suicide attack against innocent Israeli civilians.

Suddenly an ambulance arrives, and inside is a woman who is seemingly pregnant. It has happened at checkpoints that not everybody who appears to be pregnant is truly pregnant. The woman appears to be in pain and her husband is also highly anxious. The ambulance driver says the woman is about to give birth and without the proper medical attention at the hospital, the newborn baby will struggle to survive.

It is a hot day and there is a long line of cars. Your commander is yelling at you on the two-way radio, “Do not let ambulances go through because there is a terrorist in an ambulance!”

To complicate the picture, a news video crew is present. To further complicate the situation, the pregnant woman is a religious Muslim and it is considered disrespectful to touch a religious woman. You are not a doctor, but you have to make a decision. If you let the ambulance go through and it contains a terrorist, then innocent people will die. If there is not a terrorist in this particular ambulance, you may cause the woman to lose her child.

What Actually Happened?
The vehicle was stopped and searched and another ambulance was called.

2) You are serving within a commando unit in the southern West Bank, south of Hebron. Your current mission is to infiltrate a small village of about 30 people. There is a suspected terrorist living within this small village who is known to have created explosives for suicide bombings.

There is a lot of information and research on this particular terrorist, and his arrest is important for the safety and security of Israeli citizens. Your unit is heading by foot to this hilltop village starting at 5 a.m. On your trek up to the top of the hill, your leader notices an older shepherd from the village on a nearby hill. The shepherd, with his flock of sheep, sees you and your unit approaching the village.
What Would Do?

What Actually Happened
The Shepard ends up inflicting some harm though. He warns the village and the operation is compromised.

3) Your unit is called in to respond to a sniper who is shooting from inside a hospital. What do you do?

What Actually Happened?
Warn the hospital of your intention to enter and then move in carefully to take out the sniper.

4) You are part of a patrol unit near the Palestinian city of Jenin. Over the past few weeks a thorough investigative research has found a terrorist aide to be living in a small house on the outskirts of Jenin.

He is thought to have assisted a few suicide bombers in the making and preparing of their suicide-bomb belts. Your mission is to go to his house, arrest him, and search his home for additional weapons and bomb-making materials. Your unit’s truck approaches his house, enters his home through a side window, and arrests him, avoiding gunfire and confrontation. You order his family to take a few belongings with them for a few hours as the unit has to search the house.

The man’s wife and kids reluctantly agree, grab a few items, and slowly exit their home. The wife and kids all leave the home carrying a bag or backpack with a few home items inside. The man’s older son, who is about 4 years old, is crying and requests repeatedly to go over and say goodbye to his father. What do you do?

What Actually Happened
The boy ran away. He was chased and caught. He was carrying dynamite sticks in his backpack.

5) Palestinians terrorists shoot at an Israeli civilian car and you are engaged in a chase. The terrorists flee into a mosque where a prayer service is being held. What do you do?

What Actually Happened?
A group of terrorists in Gaza holed up in a mosque and a group of women came and put themselves between the soldiers and the terrorists. The Israelis retreated and the terrorists were allowed to escape.

6) You are driving in a jeep in the West Bank with another soldier and see a Palestinian placing a pile of rocks in the road that you suspect may be booby-trapped.
What do you do?

What Actually Happened?
If the soldiers see the Palestinian place the rocks in the road, it is permissible to order the person to remove them. However, if no one is seen placing the rocks, it is forbidden to force a local resident to help move them because civilians cannot be used as human shields.

You Also might Like to Read:

The Spirit Of The IDF - Part 1



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