Soldiers perpetrating or witnessing acts of humiliation: A community-based random sample study design.

Abstract

Where soldiering activities include administrating civilians, humiliating behaviors may become commonplace. Our goal was to assess frequency and correlates of Israeli soldiers witnessing or committing humiliating behaviors toward the civilian Palestinian population (CPP). Results indicate that among veterans, 17.4% of men and 10.2% of women (n ϭ 151) had either participated or witnessed the degradation of CPP. Posttraumatic stress, dissociation, previous aggression against CPP, combat experience against Palestinians, and current reserve duty service predicted witnessing or participation in humiliating civilians. The study questions the ability of the Israeli army to refrain from inhumane behavior against civilians and suggests means to eradicate such behaviors.

Moral injury process and its psychological consequences among Israeli combat veterans

“…Military raids and incursions are an integral part of these duties, and may include entry into houses suspected of harboring terrorists. Thus, while confronting door‐to‐door fighting, attention sometimes needs to be paid to other, nonterrorist, family members (Gelkopf, Berger, & Roe, ). Indeed, qualitative studies performed in Israel have shown that military service in the occupied territories has led to significant traumatization (Maoz, ) and "moral trauma" (Blachar, ).…”

The impact of moral injury on suicide risk among recently discharged Israeli veterans: A longitudinal moderated mediation model of trauma-related guilt and self-forgiveness.

“…Furthermore, investigating PMIEs and their outcomes among IDF soldiers offers a genuinely unusual challenge, given their dual military roles: (a) guarding Israel's international borders and involvement in typical armed conflict, and (b) executing border security and policing roles, such as operating checkpoints, patrols, arresting civilians, LEVI-BELZ, LEVINSTEIN, AND ZERACH and ambush assignments in the West Bank (requiring close contact with civilians at different levels of friction; Levi-Belz et al, 2022). Such potentially conflicting military roles may expose soldiers to ethical challenges, particularly given the contact with civilian women and children (Gelkopf et al, 2016).…”

Prospective associations between psychological factors, potentially morally injurious events, and psychiatric symptoms among Israeli combatants: The roles of ethical leadership and ethical preparation.

“…Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) combatants' routine includes: peacekeeping missions in the West Bank populated with Palestinian inhabitants (alongside the traditional missions of securing Israel's borders and participating in traditional warfare). Thus, this is a highly relevant population, as their missions may expose them to ethical challenges, when it is more difficult to decide on the most prudent way to react toward noncombatants (or potential combatants), despite battlefield ethics training and the rules of engagement (Gelkopf et al, 2016).…”