After officer’s death, public rage is directed at the Israeli army – and Bennett

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The death of Border Policeman Barel Hadaria Shmueli, who was shot by a Hamas member along the Gaza border, is developing into a storm that is undermining the public’s faith in the Israeli military – and could very well push the government into taking steps that will not serve its policies in the Strip. Senior military leaders are still having a hard time processing this exceptionally strong response, even though its consequences could ensnare the IDF into further turmoil.

Shmueli was critically wounded by a shot to the head during violent clashes along the Gaza border on August 21. He died of his wounds on Monday and was then laid to rest. An error in tactical preparations by the IDF’s Gaza Division allowed a group of Palestinian protesters to reach the openings in the border wall, behind which the snipers of an undercover unit of the Border Police hid. The Hamas member took advantage of the riot to shoot Shmueli at point-blank range.

Staff Sgt. Barel Hadaria Shmueli.Israel Police

Within the IDF, there is no doubt that there were errors in its use of force, to the point where it had seemingly led to this tragic result. These failures demand a thorough operational investigation, and its conclusions will be presented to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi next week. They may very well recommend that disciplinary measures be taken against the commanders who were involved in the incident.

A video posted by the Palestinians involved in the incident, the Shmueli family’s reaction and now the soldier’s death have led to intense public commotion. A broad campaign underway on social media by soldiers, including reservists, is attacking the IDF’s policies and accusing its commanders of tying soldiers’ hands and endangering their lives. The real sentiments awakened by the incident have therefore been mingled with media populism, and, as usual, political considerations as well.

Acclaimed keyboard warriors jumped on the wagon too, and seem to be guided by associates of the former prime minister, who just chose to extend his luxurious Hawaii vacation. Their exercises, along with their exploitation of authentic public fury, are well known to the man to whom it is addressed. After the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, as the former chief of staff for opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, stirred and roused – on his boss’ behalf – the reservists’ protests against then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Protesters on the Palestinian side of the Gaza border on the day when Shmueli was shot, earlier this month.Adel Hana / AP

The current situation is different. The failure may have stemmed from a certain amount of rustiness after a long period without protests along the Gaza border fence. But the claim that the army intentionally tied the hands of its soldiers seems to be baseless.

After all, the IDF killed over 200 Palestinians, many of them unarmed protesters and some unnecessarily, in incidents along this same border with Gaza in 2019 and 2020. In the incident in which Shmueli was shot, two Palestinians were killed too, and about 40 were wounded by Israeli fire. Despite the seductive power of the slogans spreading online and in the media, it is hard to get the impression that Shmueli was left for dead.

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This has not stopped politicians, Twitter pundits and journalists from dancing on his grave. Likud MK Nir Barkat demanded no less than the establishment of a parliamentary commission of inquiry to investigate Barel’s death. Barkat should have known better. He was a company commander, some say even an outstanding one, in the Paratroopers Brigade in the 1980s. Did he never lose a single soldier in an operation? Were all of his decisions flawless?

The main target of the campaign is Bennett, with the goal of presenting him as a weak and defeatist leader, one who is incapable of spurring the army to take decisive action. In this light, a few sworn Netanyahu fans held an ugly display of hatred on the sidelines of the mass funeral held for Shmueli.

All means are kosher when Bennett is the target, including crude attacks on the head of the army’s Southern Command, Eliezer Toledano, when the latter attended the funeral. Bibi’s supporters have no problem throwing anyone under the bus, even the man who was Netanyahu’s own military secretary for over two years. Who remembers these days that during one of their trips abroad, the military secretary held a parasol over the revered leader’s head to protect him from the searing African sun?

It seems that the General Staff has yet to grasp the full significance of what happened. At a ceremony at a Haifa navy base on Monday, Kochavi expressed sorrow over Shmueli’s death and warned that Israel won’t allow any improvement to civilian living conditions in Gaza if the violence continues. But soon, he will certainly need to do more than that – and publicly. He’ll need to respond to the soldiers’ claims about the restrictive rules of engagement and assuage their parents’ concerns, while at the same time supporting the chain of command. Professional mistakes can’t be an excuse for a public lynching.

Reservists protest after the Second Lebanon War in 2007.Nir Kafri

On Tuesday morning, journalist Amir Oren rightly tweeted that the harsh public response to the death of a combat soldier from the Border Police raises doubts about the government’s ability to approve large-scale IDF ground incursions in the event of a war in Gaza or Lebanon. The Israeli public’s tolerance for losses has declined greatly, to an extent that could tie the hands of decision makers. This, too, is a resounding implication of the vocal, political exploitation of this mishap.

In the background is the ongoing crisis in Gaza. The United Nations managed to broker only two-thirds of a solution to the issue of Qatar’s monthly aid to Hamas. The lack of progress on the last third, a monthly transfer of $10 million to pay salaries to Hamas officials, is spurring the organization to continue staging violent nighttime demonstrations along the border fence.

Even if this obstacle is somehow surmounted, Israel is still conditioning significant steps toward Gaza’s reconstruction on a deal for the return of the two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two IDF soldiers held captive by Hamas. But there’s still a deep divide between Hamas’ demands on this issue and what Israel is willing to give in exchange.

Brig Gen. (res.) Dror Shalom retired from the IDF last year. His final job was as director of Military Intelligence’s research division. In an article published Monday by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, he wrote that Israeli intelligence has tended to focus on Iran as the main security threat, but with the caveat that it clearly won’t be possible to relegate the Palestinian issue to the sidelines in the long run.

The hostilities with Hamas in Gaza this past May, he argued, should be a wake-up call for Israel, any may even be the last of its kind. The policy of “managing the conflict” with the Palestinians demands enormous resources from Israel and makes it hard to focus on preparing for the campaign against Iran, which may intensify in the future, he wrote.

But Bennett – who just this Monday, following Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, took the trouble to clarify that “there’s no diplomatic process with the Palestinians, nor will there be” – seems unlikely to follow this advice.