Israel’s military ombudsman announced on Wednesday that there has been an increase in complaints of alleged misbehavior, negligence and incompetence by commanders towards their subordinates during 2021.
Ombudswoman’s annual report included thousands of complaints from soldiers and career soldiers, including multiple allegations by senior officers of issuing their own coronavirus-related rules that contradicted the official policy of the Israel Defense Forces.
The report was presented to Defense Minister Benny Gantz and the Knesset’s powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as well as senior officials in the IDF.
The document was prepared by the Ombudsman Brigadier. General (res.) Rachel Tevet-Wiesel, formally known as the Chief Grievances Officer, works out of the Ministry of Defense. Tevet-Wiesel is the first woman to hold the position since being appointed last year.
During 2021, the Office of the Ombudsman received 6,222 complaints from Israeli soldiers or their parents, a nine percent increase from the previous year. Tevet-Wiesel’s office reviewed each case, finding that most of them – 55 percent – were legitimate, dismissing the rest as false or frivolous.
The most significant increase in complaints, up 17% from 2020, was among enlisted soldiers. The majority of those complaints, 53%, were related to perceived unfair treatment of subordinates by their commanders.
In this handout image published on March 1, 2022, Defense Minister Benny Gantz receives the Annual Military Ombudsman Report from Rachel Tevet-Wiesel. (Ministry of Defence)
This document is prepared each year based on written complaints from soldiers, interviews and reviews of internal military reports, to identify worrying and positive trends within the IDF.
As they do every year, complaints also deal with cases of physical and verbal abuse, soldiers failing to receive proper medical care, bureaucratic inefficiencies and poor conditions. Includes an additional section devoted to the IDF’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years.
But unlike the 2020 report, where most complaints related to the coronavirus were more than “clutter and vague instructions”, this year there was an “extremely troubling” trend of senior officers deliberately flouting the COVID-related issues issued by the Army’s Directorate of Operations, Tevet. were violating the rules. Wiesel said.
“This conduct of commanders, including senior commanders, who clearly act against orders, is serious and has the effect of destroying the very foundation on which the army is founded. [It is] A problematic personal example for IDF soldiers and significant damage to public trust,” Tevet-Wiesel said in the report.
In one case mentioned in the report, unvaccinated soldiers in the Navy were ordered to quarantine for five days after returning from furlough to base, despite the Directorate of Operations never issuing such a rule. At the time, unvaccinated soldiers were completely banned from entering military bases serving there permanently.
Other cases noted in the report were soldiers being moved to other roles or denied positions because they were unaffiliated, or soldiers being pressured to get vaccinated, on the matter at the time. There was a direct violation of the rules of the IDF.
IDF soldiers wear masks at a base in northern Israel on October 27, 2020. (David Cohen/Flash90)
This year’s document also includes several findings that emerged from previous years’ reports: commanders knowingly or unintentionally failed to provide services required by military protocol to soldiers; Commanders speak unprofessional or hurtful to their subordinates, sometimes in public; medical personnel failed to meet the needs of the soldiers in their care; and general bureaucratic mismanagement.
Tevet-Wiesel noted that there were cases of “commanders endangering the lives of soldiers” which eventually ended without any bodily harm, but this “provoked a sense of mistrust and insecurity among the commanders to the complaining soldiers”. left.”
The Ombudsman warned that these incidents “harm the most basic IDF values, as well as the confidence and motivation to serve in IDF commanders.”
On a positive note, Tevet-Wiesel said he is satisfied that about 80% of his recommendations to the relevant bodies in the IDF were implemented, as well as the delay in implementing 170 recommendations from previous years.
Speaking to reporters, Gantz said he “expects the commanders to study these reports and take care of things,” particularly regarding the relationship between commanders and subordinates.
“We need fairness in order, people get the right” [from the IDF]…and they need not eliminate it completely, but be fair commander to the troops,” he said.
“We will learn as much from the report as possible and we will try to keep improving,” Gantz said.
The army responded to the document saying it thanked the ombudsman for the report and said it would help the army improve on the issues it highlights.
“All incidents are being studied, dealt with and individual and systemic lessons are being learned from them, which are being implemented soon,” the army said in a statement.
