The former combatants who wrote concerning Israel’s security policy on the Gaza border (Letters, 13 April) do not represent the views of the majority of Israel defence force (IDF) soldiers, who appreciate the high moral standards demanded of them by the country they serve.
I myself served as a lieutenant in the IDF tank corp and can attest that Israel places the utmost priority on avoiding causing harm to innocent civilians, stringently enforcing a rigorous code of conduct. Any soldier who contravenes this code faces severe consequences.
Far from being “unarmed demonstrators”, rioters approached the border at the instruction of terror group Hamas. Armed with guns, explosives and molotov cocktails, they sought violent confrontation. Of those killed, around 80% have already been identified as belonging to terrorist organisations. Israel unilaterally withdrew from all of Gaza in 2005 and it is astonishing to read the mendacious claim that Israel is seeking to “maintain the regime of occupation”.
Hamas alone bears responsibility for organising violent riots with the purpose of infiltrating Israel in order to murder innocent civilians. This is clearly documented in the Hamas Charter. For the good of both our peoples, they must stop.
Paul Charney
Chairman, Zionist Federation UK and Ireland
• The letter from the former Israeli snipers is a rare glimpse into the hidden humanity inside Israel’s overwhelmingly superior military firepower against a dispossessed nation of Palestinians. There are so many recordings of brutally cruel actions by their uniformed forces, but so little heard from those in Israel’s military who sincerely want to find a way for this to end, not just to talk of a peace process. Such people should be at the forefront of a drive to end this horror. I for one honour those signatories.
Mark Lewinski
Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire
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