Soldier's Facebook photos condemned

JERUSALEM - A former Israeli soldier has been condemned for posting photographs on Facebook of herself with blindfolded Palestinian prisoners under the heading "IDF - the best time of my life".

The pictures, posted by Eden Aberjil who left the Army two years ago, were removed yesterday from the social networking website. In one photo, she is shown next to a blindfolded prisoner, while another shows her smiling in front of other inmates, their eyes covered and their hands bound.

A comment posted by one of her Facebook friends said: "That looks very sexy for you."

Eden's response, also posted on the site, reads: "I wonder if he is on Facebook too - I'll have to tag him in the photo."

The Israel Defence Forces condemned the former soldier, saying in a statement: "These actions are ugly and callous; details of the incident have been forwarded up the chain of command." A military spokesman said it was not clear whether action could be taken against the woman because she had been discharged in 2008.

The posting was swiftly condemned by the Palestinian Authority as humiliating. Yishai Menuchin, the director of the Israeli NGO Public Committee Against Torture told the newspaper Haaretz: "The horrible pictures demonstrate a norm of treating Palestinians like objects instead of human beings - treatment that disregards their feelings as humans and their right to privacy."

He added: "The soldier would go crazy if photographs of her in humiliating circumstances had been posted on the internet without her permission. We call upon IDF commanders to issue orders to prevent this kind of humiliating behaviour."

The newspaper said an Israeli blogger, Lisa Goldman, managed to contact the former soldier via Facebook, who replied: "I don't speak to leftists."

In the past year, the IDF, which has faced breaches of security from Facebook postings, has announced strict rules forbidding soldiers from uploading photos from military bases or operations.

- INDEPENDENT