Israeli army Chief of Staff urges the use of ‘proportionate’ force

The Israeli army’s Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot sparked a storm of criticism after he said that soldiers must use proportionate force in dealing with Palestinian attacks.

Speaking with Israeli high school students in Bat Yam, Eizenkot urged soldiers to use only “necessary force”.

Eizenkot said that when “there is a 13-year-old girl who is holding scissors or a knife, and there is a barrier between her and the soldiers, I wouldn’t want a soldier to open fire and empty a magazine on a girl like that, even if she commits a very serious act.”

The chief of staff stressed that “we don’t operate on the basis of adages like ‘if someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.’”

He added that soldiers should only open fire when they face a threat to their lives.