Israeli Military and Intelligence Officials, Typically Outspoken, Silent on Gaza Atrocities

IDF officers have refused ‘illegal’ orders in past wars—not this time—despite loathing for Netanyahu

A child injured by Israeli bombing(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images).

A BLACK FLAG hovers over military orders issued by Israeli Defense Force Chief of Staff Lt. General Eyal Zamir, backed by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israel prepares this week to expand the war in Gaza and to conquer the area. 

First coined by a judge in the trial of soldiers who carried out a cold blooded massacre of 49 Israeli Arab villagers on the eve of the 1956 Sinai campaign, a "black flag" refers to an unmistakably immoral and illegal order, one that must be disobeyed. 

The mass killings of Gaza civilians would seem to qualify for a black flag, yet not a single high-ranking officer in the Israeli military or defense establishment has refused participation in a campaign that has devastated the enclave, drawn international scrutiny for potential war crimes, and drawn Israel into being labeled a pariah state.