It took too long, but thanks to this blog and Yossi Gurvitz exposing Avi Yakobov, the IDF abuser in the YouTube video, Yediot Achronot has finally publicly named him and his role.
Several oddball things about the report worth noting which reflect on Yakobov’s and the IDF’s true brutishness. When Yediot’s reporter appeared at Yakobov’s home asking to interview him, the latter had a friend over apparently for personal protection. The friend lifted his shirt to reveal a pistol in his waist, GoodFellas-style. I guess Yakobov and his “friend” thought they were players in a Marty Scorcese movie, Israel-style.
This cinematic scene also brought to mind that brilliant Jimmy Cliff song from the film, The Harder They Come:
Runnin’ down de road with a pistol in yer waist, Johnny yer too bad…
Too bad, indeed.
The IDF, feeble fellas that they are responded to a query from the reporter by saying that the incidents in which Yakobov participated happened two years ago and since he is no longer in the IDF they’ve been reported to the Israeli police. A nice way to wash their hands of the entire matter. The act of abuse happened while Yakobov wore an IDF uniform, therefore passing the case off to the police is entirely inappropriate and indicates yet again the culture of impunity regarding human rights; with the difference that usually a public embarrassment like a YouTube video or Goldstone Report has brought forth some substantive accountability from the IDF–not this time though apparently.
I was disappointed that neither Yediot nor Gurvitz thought it appropriate to credit this blog with being the original source reporting this story.
Well done Richard in helping to bring this poor excuse for a “soldier” out into the fray. Lets hope journalism like this will go some ways into curtailing this sort of behaviour in the IDF.
Ah yes, the luckless Mr. Yakobov. He does seem to turn up like the proverbial bad penny, doesn’t he? I would venture to say that the damage he’s inflicted on the reputation of the IDF has incurred a cost of very much higher denomination.
The Yakobovs of this world exist everywhere; perhaps because there is, in some degree, a part of Yakobov in each of us. To a marked extent, he symbolises the imperfections we all possess but keep contained by virtue of upbringing and social interaction. Hopefully, what is expected of us in certain situations is inherent and we therefore act accordingly. Inadequate peer pressure and the lack of a natural ability to empathise seem to have been the overriding factors in the case of Mr.Y.
What is that expectation when conflict and warfare become factors in our lives? That we deal as best we can with the situation as it confronts us and keep within those parameters that are considered acceptable at such a time.
If what happens lies outside those norms and that then becomes widely known, the consequences of such behaviour can be unenviable, to say the least. Just ask Avi for his opinion on that one. I bet that, given the choice, staying in bed on that day would have been much the better option for him.
Can one now argue the matter from the specific to the more general?
If actions in conflict can occasionally be scrutinised and then greatly magnified and penalised by the power of modern communications, would not such a facility inhibit the worse aspects of such incidents? Would Mr. Yakobov still be prepared to do what he did and, even more pertinent, would those around him be content to let him do so? Under such circumstances, I believe everyone would be treading much more cautiously than they do at present.
Thus, if a system were in place to perform this singular task, its mere existence might alone render us all an inestimable service, one that confines actual conflict to a much diminished role and allows peace to gain a firmer foothold than otherwise would be the case.
But where, I wonder, does one find such a system?