Israeli Soldiers Charged With Looting in Gaza

The IDF's Givati Brigade is also known for putting out T-shirts showing its snipers aiming at the belly of a pregnant Palestinian woman, with the snappy caption of “1 shot - 2 kills.”

Israeli soldiers looting a sewing workshop in Hebron Press TV photo

(GAZA Rress TV) - War is big business, and the Israeli war machine and industry are no exception. And, not to be left out, it seems that Israeli foot soldiers have decided to put privateering back into private enterprise too.

On May 20th, The Jerusalem Post reported that a soldier from the Givati Brigade was taken before a military court charged with looting, by way of stealing a Palestinian's credit card during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip earlier this year and withdrawing money at Israeli ATMs.

According to the indictment, the soldier stole the credit card from the Palestinian's home in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City and used it to withdraw cash after the onslaught. The paper did not report how the soldier had forced the card-owner to reveal his PIN, without which the card would be useless.

The court postponed its decision indefinitely.

Two days later, Ynet News reported the case of two more Givati Brigade soldiers - also veterans of the Gaza onslaught - who had been arrested on suspicion of stealing jewelry and money from the home of a West Bank resident last November. It was not reported whether they stole from the Gazans as well.

And, the private enterprise of the Israeli soldiers was not limited to robbing from Palestinians. At least when it comes to thieving, Israeli soldiers believe in equal opportunities.

Witness the case of yet two more Givati Brigade soldiers caught red-handed while selling stolen army goods - in this case water containers, military kit, smoke grenades (read white phosphorus) and illuminating bombs to a military surplus store, according to a report in Ynet News on May 21. One of the soldiers was described by his attorney as “an outstanding soldier who fought for the State of Israel,” in the Israeli blitz on Gaza earlier in the year.

There seems no end to the business initiative of the Givati Brigade. This brigade gained international notoriety when - following the massacre of Palestinian civilians in Gaza - it put out T-shirts showing its snipers aiming at the belly of a pregnant Palestinian woman, with the snappy caption of “1 shot - 2 kills.”

But, the Givatis are not new to notoriety. For this is the brigade established in 1948 from the veterans of the Irgun terrorist gang. Among other outrages, Irgun Gang was responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946 and the massacre of Palestinians at Deir Yassin in 1948.

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By Zhila Keshvari, for Press TV