חשיפה: לוחם יחידת מגלן שהפך משותק בעקבות “מסורת” מסוכנת הנהוגה ביחידה הוא עילי חיות
An IDF soldier who was a star runner and joined an elite commando unit, was permanently paralyzed in a hazing incident during a training exercise. The unit, Maglan, apparently compelled new recruits to jump from the roof of a combat vehicle into a thorn-bush. The idea was that the pain of jumping into a plant full of thorns would somehow make a man (or a soldier) out of you. Unfortunately, Cpl. Elay Chayot, landed awkwardly and was severely injured. He was removed to hospital and found to have been permanently paralyzed.
Chayot hails from a village in Israel’s far north and is 20 years old.
Israelis only know a soldier was paralyzed. They don’t know his name because the army has placed his name under military censorship. No publication may report it. I just did. Apparently, the army believes that if the public knows the identity of the injured boy, it will be further embarrassed, as it should be.
Any army which permits such a hazing ritual at which a star athlete is paralyzed should immediately remove the commanding officer and review all its training guidelines. Someone should be accountable. Do you think this will happen? No, of course not. And one way to ensure it won’t is to maintain this entire incident under a shroud of opacity.
This tragic incident is reminiscent of another major accident in which a gifted Israeli athlete died due to negligent medical treatment while she was in an army brig. If you add to this the large number of such recruits who commit suicide, it would seem the IDF has a major problem in maintaining the physical and mental health of its recruits.
You are quite wrong – the incident was vastly reported in Israeli media (including all the details). Even Bibi’s newspaper ISRAEL HAYOM reported it in length. By the way, i am a sports reporter, and even i barely know this athlete’s name.
@gk: you quite misread my post. I didn’t say the incident itself was not reported I said the Victim’s name was not reported. Please read more carefully before making false claims. I also linked to one of the Israeli reports, which you missed as well.
The IDF immediately investigated the incidents, halted training, gave safety briefings to soldiers, and subsequently dismissed the two officers involved.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5322988,00.html
This sounds like an isolated incident, to which the IDF responded appropriately.
And, you haven’t shown that there is a pattern of neglect or abuse in this Maglan unit.
What do you gain by publishing his name? What should this embarrass the IDF? There is no rule forcing the IDF to publish names of injured soldiers. Perhaps the family doesn’t want the name published? Because if they did, no censor could stop them.
@Daniel H: any democratic country would publish the name. But Israel is a country living under military censorship. And the censor doesn’t care about what anyone wants or doesn’t want, except the army itself.
I sincerely doubt whether a Navy SEAL injured in basic training would have his name published in the US. Maglan is a “classified” unit and therefore the identity of all members of the unit is subject ot censorship. The hazing is unacceptable and is being discussed widely in Israeli media.
With all due respect, the soldier in question is not a star athlete by any standard – he wouldn’t even place on a Seatte High School track meet (4:13 1500m/36:00 10k is nice but not competitive ) – this doesn’t minimize in any way the pointlessness of his injuries …
@Mikizo: on the Contrary, there are numerous stories published in u.s. media about abuse of military personnel on training exercises leading to death or maiming. Including use of their names.
@Frank: so you’re arguing that a common hazing rumitual endured by many if not most Maglan recruits which led to paralysis for at least one victim is not a pattern of abuse? And has the practice and any similar ones been discontinued?
His identity is sealed because Maglan is a commando unit and all pictures of soldiers are pixelated.
Also, by Sunday evening the commander was already ousted. (https://news.walla.co.il/item/3179573)
what is Richard Siverstein’s track record in training military units? Is he even a veteran? Why does he think that he can supervise what foreign countries do with their training?
@Karl: you appear to be a member of the obtuse anti free press brigade Congregating around Dear Beloved Leader-President. But the rest of us understand that the job of journalism and activism is to expose secrets the state attempts to conceal, and whose secrecy harms the nation and the public’s right to know.
To be a good journalist you don’t have be a sergeant or veteran. You just have to be a good, accurate reporter. I know that bugs the s%/t out of you. But there it is.
I would say his personal privacy might be the reason. Usually, when there is a gag order, the papers say there is a gag order. In this case, they didn’t, which tells me the reason was different.
Richard, has there ever been information in regards to Israel that got to you and you decided to not publish for any reason?
@ JJ: I don’t know why people like you don’t read the actual post when you make assumptions like you do in your comments. I specifically said the incident was under military censorship, not a gag order. That in itself proves you are wrong. The military censor protects the military, not a paralyzed boy’s privacy.
I get stories and information from scores of sources. Some I publish, some I don’t. If I don’t publish there are scores of reasons i.might not do so.
But your question was imprecise so let me answer the question you meant to ask: have I ever not published a story which Israeli authorities might consider damaging (i.e. under gag or censorship). If I know the story to be true and I find it newsworthy, I generally publish. If the story will directly physically hatm someone I probably would not publish. There have been stories I decided not to publish for various reasons, mostly because I didn’t think they were newsworthy to non-Israelis or because they strayed too far from the purpose of the blog.