IDF troops should refuse orders to commit war crimes, former NSC official tells BBC
Eran Etzion told the BBC that IDF soldiers should refuse illegal orders if they suspect the orders will cause war crimes.
Eran Etzion, former deputy head of the National Security Council, told the BBC on Wednesday that if IDF soldiers were being ordered to commit war crimes, they should refuse.
During the interview, the BBC pushed him on whether he believed Israel was committing war crimes; he said, "I fear that they might be, yes."
When asked how IDF troops should respond, he said they should refuse to carry out any orders to commit war crimes.
"If a soldier or an officer is expected to commit something that might be suspected as a war crime, they must refuse," he told the BBC's Fergal Keane.
Etzion repeated that his concerns stem from the attitude of "revenge" that has pervaded the Israeli national consciousness, which he worries will lead to war crimes.
"I'm just a concerned citizen trying to raise my voice. So that's what I'm doing. I want to make sure that no soldier is involved in anything that could be constituted as a war crime," he said.
IDF policy on illegal orders
Etzion was reiterating the current IDF policy towards illegal orders, which is that soldiers should refuse to carry out any orders illegal under Israeli law, which covers war crimes.
The IDF's official website for legal inquiries describes the process of refusing illegal orders.
"Military law allows a soldier to refrain from carrying out an order given to him by his commanders - where it is 'clear and obvious that the order is illegal.' The question of what is the case in which an illegal order will be considered is discussed in dozens of court rulings."
The IDF describes illegal orders as those which "oblige the soldier to carry out an act that is contrary to the laws of the State of Israel, and which morality and human conscience do not allow to be carried out."
"The soldier who received such an order must immediately refuse to obey it as soon as it is given to him, and if he decided to obey it anyway - he is criminally responsible for the consequences of his action and there is no defense for his actions."
The BBC report failed to mention this, as well as describing IDF evacuations of Palestinian civilians from Jabalya as them fleeing an IDF offensive.
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