A force for justice

Breaking the Silence was formed four years ago by a group of ex-soldiers, most of whom had served in Israel Defence Forces combat units in Hebron. Many of the soldiers do reserve duty in the military each year. It has collected some 500 testimonies from former soldiers who served in the West Bank and Gaza. Its first public exposure was with an exhibition of photographs by soldiers serving in Hebron and the organisation also runs regular tours of Hebron for Israeli students and diplomats. It receives funding from groups as diverse as the Jewish philanthropic Moriah Fund, the New Israel Fund, the British embassy in Tel Aviv and the EU.

I would argue this affect happens, to a greater or lesser degree, in most military training. Serious study needs to be done on the various impacts of military service on young people and their families; then the military should be obliged to present those impacts to teen-agers who hear the recruiter's pitch.

Basic consumer protection practices should be required of the military, when pitching something this life-changing, this misunderstood, and this emotionally charged to very young people.

@masbury. You are right.I am currently reading the memoirs of an ex-soldier with an elite corps who underwent a spiritual transformation, but who describes in awful detail the brutalisation of some soldiers. There is nothing unique about the above report.