Israel army battalion lays down arms, refuses training

An entire Israeli army battalion from the Golani Brigade laid down their arms and walked out of training on Tuesday in protest against leadership reshuffle, Israeli media reported.

The Commander of the battalion was removed from his position, Jerusalem Post reported, because he was deemed unfit for it.

The Israeli media reported that the soldiers entered the training building on their base, left their arms and left.

Jerusalem Post reported the soldiers as saying that they did not leave their weapons unattended, noting they left them under the supervision of others.

In a statement, the soldiers said: “We are tired of being silent. For a long time, we have been disrespected by the battalions responsible for us.”

They stated that “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was the transfer of their Commander, who they referred to as “a father [to us] these last four months. [He] brought the battalion to heights that nobody had seen before.”

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Meanwhile, they said: “We are not doing this in order to negatively impact [national] security. We are just tired of the current situation.”

One of the soldiers told Walla News: “We always felt we were less than the others. There was always a feeling that we were second-class.”

Israeli Army Spokesperson’s Unit said: “This is a serious incident that is not in line with IDF values. The incident is being investigated and dealt with.”

Jerusalem Post said that soldiers put their weapons inside the training building on their base and left. They were then called for a disciplinary conversation.