The death of 80-year-old Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad at the hands of soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda battalion is just the latest episode of a longer history in which soldiers from this battalion have used wanton violence against Palestinians. It is time for the IDF chief of staff to make a decision that should have been made long ago – to dismantle the battalion.
Netzah Yehuda is something unique in the world: a political-religious military unit. The battalion comprises formerly Haredi youth who have left school, Haredim who rebelled against their parents, hilltop youth, religious nationalist Haredi youth who have been assured a female-free environment during their service, youth from impoverished families and others from across the country’s faithful.
Studies of various armies have shown that social homogeneity fosters excessive cohesion in the unit, with the result being the rise of a culture that leads the unit to hold itself apart from the general military culture and even to subvert it. This is particularly the case when the unit’s recruits hail from marginalized groups, alienated from the
— source Jews For Justice For Palestinians | Yagil Levy | Feb 3, 2022