IDF chief of staff confined to quarters

August 23, 2009 - 9:23 AM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Crime, General, Immigrant Moments 

askenaziWhen I was in basic training in the IDF many years ago, I had a leave cancelled because while cleaning my M-16 rifle, I lost a little internal pin. Apparently, I wasn’t the first, because the pin even had a name – the Shabbat pin – because if you lost it, it meant you stayed on the base for Shabbat.

I flashbacked to those days when I was reading last week that a revolver was stolen out of the Tel Aviv office of IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. The thief, a young soldier on guard inside Ashkenazi’s inner sanctum, also stole his credit card data which was used by a third party to purchase NIS 2,000 worth of items. The decorative handgun was a gift to Ashkenazi from a US military counterpart.

According to Ha’aretz, the investigation into the incident exposed serious lapses in the arrangements for protecting Ashkenazi. Along with the security provided by the General Staff Security Unit, a number of positions on the office’s security perimeter are still being carried out by regular troops assigned to guard duty. These troops are not required to go through rigorous combat training, nor are their backgrounds substantially screened. The Military Police’s investigation revealed that the suspect had been involved in fights and a stabbing, and had piled up debts to underworld figures.

So, I was wondering, what would be the appropriate punishment for Ashkenazi for the breach of security? If I got confined to the base for a weekend for losing my Shabbat pin, I think he should at least have to do a couple shifts of guard duty at the Kirya, the IDF headquarters where he sits. However unlikely that scenario is, it somehow makes me feel better about my army service.

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Sex and the Israeli Navy

March 8, 2009 - 12:05 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Life, War 

Israeli Navy head Major-General Eli Marom

Israeli Navy head Major-General Eli Marom

Can you be the top commander in the Israeli Navy and hang out at a Tel Aviv strip club?
That was the dilemma the country was snickering about last week after Yediot Ahronot reported that Major General Eli Marom was seen at an adult entertainment bar on Tel Aviv’s Allenby Street.

The downtown area around Allenby is dotted with a handful of sleazy skin joints that compete with the massage parlors for the randy Israeli male trade. It sure isn’t what Times Square used to be, and I’ve known a few friends and acquaintances who have attended bachelor parties in said establishments who have said it’s pretty amateur and depressing.

Whether businesses like that should even exist anywhere – never mind in the Holy Land – is the topic for another discussion. But given that they do, and that they attract some rather sordid clientele, should the head of our navy, trusted with the security of the country, be patronizing places where there’s an iota of a chance of his judgment being compromised?

Marom evidently expresses remorse in letter to Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, says incident was one-time slip, Yediot reported.

On the other hand, these military brass give their lives to the welfare of the country 24/7. Who are we to deny them, on a rare night off, to deny them the right afforded any other person of looking at women’s bare breasts and having a cigar and mixed drink in the comfy confines of a club. Maybe releasing built up tension will enable him to continue to perform at high level efficiency on the job.

Yediot quoted one unnamed IDF officer as saying, “A military general is supposed to serve as a personal example and role model. When he does something like this he is shaking the foundations and legitimacy with which he operates against his subordinates in matters of values and discipline, and this incident should not have occurred.”

However, other IDF sources said that military officers, alongside their military roles and work around the clock, are also private citizens in their free time and are allowed to spend this time in any way the choose.

Maybe, the next step is to open two strip rooms in the Knesset, one for the enjoyment for the male MKs, and a Chippendales’ for the ever-increasing number of female MKs. Besides creating a mind-clearing diversion for their demanding workloads, it might entice the MKs to actually spend some more time at the Knesset.

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