In another incident in which a fighter in the Maglan commando unit was seriously injured during a stupid “ritual” that involved jumping from a moving Jeep, only the junior officers were punished.īut this case presents an important difference.
When former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot decided to delay the promotion of a commander in the Duvdevan unit after a fighter died when a weapon was played with, Kochavi and other Paratroopers officers sought to ease the punishment. The punishments imposed by Kochavi are relatively severe compared to those doled out to commanders involved in accidents during the past decade. All this led to a fatal outcome this time.
The Military Police investigation, which is still under way, exposed another dangerous aspect, which was reported by Haaretz’s Yaniv Kubovich: That after Yosefi’s drowning there was apparently pressure exerted on the fighters to coordinate their testimonies with their commanders in an effort to come up with a version of events that might reduce the culpability of those involved.Ī large number of the problems exposed were common to other Israel Defense Forces failures over the years, which is apparently attributable to the characteristics of many elite units, with their lofty professional demands, pressure to succeed, and the high motivation of the fighters, who generally don’t complain or allow themselves to fail. Israel looks ahead to new Hamas war, but doesn't look back at old lessons Israeli soldier's death in military exercise was preventable, testimonies show When the belated decision to stop the exercise was finally made, it was made in a way that only hastened the drowning disaster, because despite the decision the fighters were not forbidden to cross the river to the end point.Ĭhilling report on Israeli soldier's death puts new army chief to the test Even worse, it is clear that the intermediate ranks ignored the warnings of the soldiers and medical staff regarding the bad weather, which worsened as the exercise continued. The commanders were not familiar with the details of the exercise, did not identify any of the overt shortcomings and did not observe the rules of military discipline. The investigation showed that a spirit of arrogance prevailed. The investigation also showed that there were clearly several points at which intervention by any of the various commanders could have prevented Yosefi’s death. There was a fundamental command failure at all levels. The findings of the investigation left no doubt there were some 30 errors revealed in the planning, approval and implementation of the exercise. This was the first serious mishap Kochavi had to deal with since assuming his post in mid-January, and it happened in the Paratroopers, the brigade in which he began his army service and which he later commanded. > Read more: Israeli soldier's death in military exercise was preventable, testimonies show ■ Chilling report on Israeli soldier's death puts new army chief to the test | Analysis The Paratroopers Brigade commander was reprimanded and five officers at all ranks under him – from the Paratroopers reconnaissance team commander to the commander of the brigade’s reconnaissance battalion – were dismissed from their posts. Two months after the accident, following an operational investigation by the army, Kochavi decided to punish the entire chain of command that was involved in directing the exercise. Evyatar Yosefi drowned in the Hilazon stream during a navigation exercise. IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi reacted as required to the fatal training accident in January in which Sgt.
Aviv Kochavi at a ceremony at the Glilot army base, March 11, 2019.