This mirrors a more general ideological shift to the right in Israeli society as global sympathy for the Palestinians grows. The world may consider us oppressors, say Israelis, but we refuse to act the part of the guilty: we will proudly parade our tyranny instead.
Israeli society, like its soldiers, is caught in a self-destructive cycle: its very sensitivity to criticism pushes it ever more resolutely towards outcast status.
Just before Israel’s 66th Independence Day, the country acquired a new national hero.
If it is true that every nation gets the national heroes it deserves, it was a rather worrying spectacle.
The video clip that turned David Adamov from an anonymous soldier into a national figure was taken with a Palestinian camera in Hebron.
Such video cameras have become the bane of the Israeli army. They have been widely distributed to young Palestinians throughout the occupied territories by Israeli peace organizations, especially B’Tselem.
