IDF drafts new principles document outlining values as discipline declines, elections near - report

The IDF is drafting a foundational principles document to redefine military values and clarify permitted and prohibited conduct, amid a reported decline in discipline and ahead of approaching elections. The document will address the IDF's nonpartisan nature. Recent incidents include soldiers desecrating religious symbols and wearing unauthorized patches, resulting in prison sentences.

The IDF has begun drafting an official "foundational principles document" intended to redefine and clarify the military's values while clearly establishing what is permitted and what is prohibited, N12 reported on Wednesday. The document is also expected to address the IDF's nonpartisan nature ahead of approaching elections by clearly setting out its policies, according to the report. The chief of staff has emphasized in recent weeks that he will not allow politics to enter the IDF. The document is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks and distributed to commanders throughout the IDF, N12 wrote. This comes after discussions held by the General Staff in recent months, in which data on a dramatic decline in discipline was presented to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and the military's senior commanders. This decline has been reflected in disregard for military orders and ethical failures, some of which have received media attention in recent months, N12 reported. Two months previously, an IDF soldier was sentenced to 30 days in military prison after Zamir caught him wearing a "Messiah" patch on his uniform. In addition, the platoon commander was given a suspended sentence of 14 days' detention, the company commander was reprimanded, and the battalion commander was given a formal mark on his record. In May, the IDF sentenced a soldier to 21 days in military prison for desecrating a religious Christian symbol in southern Lebanon, and an additional soldier was sentenced to 14 days in military prison for filming the incident. In April, another soldier was filmed smashing a statue of Jesus. Both the soldier who smashed the statue and the soldier who filmed him were removed from combat roles and sentenced to 30 days in military prison. Six other soldiers who were present at the scene and "did not act to stop the incident or report it" were strongly criticized, according to the IDF, which said that the soldiers' conduct "completely deviated from IDF orders and values."