Israeli intelligence veterans refuse to serve in Palestinian territories

[maami]

From the guardian yesterday:

Innocent people under military rule exposed to surveillance by Israel, say 43 ex-members of Unit 8200, including reservists

Forty-three veterans of one of Israel’s most secretive military intelligence units – many of them still active reservists – have signed a public letter refusing to serve in operations involving the occupied Palestinian territories because of the widespread surveillance of innocent residents.

The signatories include officers, former instructors and senior NCOs from the country’s equivalent of America’s NSA or Britain’s GCHQ, known as Unit 8200 – or in Hebrew as Yehida Shmoneh-Matayim.

They allege that the “all-encompassing” intelligence the unit gathers on Palestinians – much of it concerning innocent people – is used for “political persecution” and to create divisions in Palestinian society.

The largest intelligence unit in the Israeli military, Unit 8200 intercepts electronic communications including email, phone calls and social media in addition to targeting military and diplomatic traffic.

Read on...

www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-reservists-refuse-serve-palestinian-territories

Israels snowdon moment... I hope more brave and principled israelis follow suit and expose the occupation for what it is.

Let's hope so. The tide see to be very slowly turning.

I agree.. It does seem like a turning point.. Hopefully for the better.

They may be similiar to the NSA or GCHQ.. But the difference is the palestinians have no recourse to law for justice unlike the west. So its there is no accountability..Perhaps a sign of where the west are actually heading soon..

The key point that stood out is that the veterans actually believed israel was behaving like an undemocratic regime...i.e. like a dictator!

If you want to see change in Israel, supporting the Israeli left and civil society is the only way to do it. Luckily, Israel is a lively democracy where such actions are possible.

It's not the first time such actions have been taken. Not exactly a Snowden moment though.