Soldier who snubbed Halutz ejected

Hananel Dayan, an excelling soldier, who refused to shake hands with the
chief of staff at an awards ceremony, was ejected from his division
Hanan Greenberg YNET 5 May 2006
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3247401,00.html

Sergeant Hananel Dayan, the soldier who refused to shake hands with Chief of
Staff Dan Halutz during a ceremony to distribute awards for excelling, was
ejected from the Barak division, and will apparently no longer be able to
hold a position of authority.

The decision was taken late on Thursday evening by the commander of the
Barak division, Colonel Moshe Sheetrit, after he spoke with the soldier and
with the battalion commander.

The decision to eject the solder was taken due to his behavior at the
ceremony and the fact that he was unwilling to apologize to the chief of
staff at a later stage. The IDF says it sees such behavior as a political
protest which has no place among soldiers.

A hearing was held for the soldier by the IDF's Head of the Personnel
Directorate Major General Elazar Stern. The soldier detailed his feelings
and the reasons for taking the decision not to shake the chief of staff's
hand. The hearing last half an hour, at the end of which Major General Stern
said he would take a decision next week on whether to withdraw the
commendation received by the soldier.

'Mafia style'

Ayela, Hananel's mother, told Ynet in response on Friday morning that "the
army is out of its mind. Where is proportion? The chief of

staff and the army is shooting itself in the leg. Hananel himself accepts
the verdict and when he took the decision he knew he would pay a price."
Yosef, Hananel's father, said that "he didn't do anything that can be tried.
Hananel is embarrassed, he is young, and didn't do things according to the
script. He didn't want to be a hero, and the army pressured him. Major
General Stern told him that if he would apologize, nothing would happen.
This is really a mafia style."

Far-Right activist Baruch Marzel, responding to the ejection, said he "will
send flowers to Hananel."

"Dayan is an Israeli hero and all IDF soldiers should learn from him. If his
commendation is taken away and its reward, we will raise the fund for him,"
said Marzel.

A lawyer for Hananel Dayan said that if the decision is not cancelled, he
will appeal to the High Court.

Lawyer Adi Kidar said that "shaking hands is not a military order" and added
that "the soldier carried out all of the orders given to him and there is no
reason to take steps against him which are not in the legal framework."

Efrat Weiss contributed to this story

First Published: 05.05.06, 11:34
Latest Update: 05.05.06, 12:52