Guest Editorial

The Israeli government and its supporters claim we are really the victim, that we had no choice but to attack Gaza, that we hurt civilians only because they are being used as human shields, that Israel wants peace and Hamas wants death.

Israel's critics, on the other hand, claim that it had a choice, it broke the ceasefire, that we have killed over a thousand in Gaza over the past three years, before the invasion began, and that the siege in Gaza was designed to use civilians to put pressure on their leaders to change - the same logic as the despised human shields.

I view the situation from another perspective - that of an Israeli citizen concerned about the future of our democracy. I am no stranger to the Israeli military, having served for more thanfour years as a soldier in an elite reconnaissance unit and then as a lieutenant and deputy company commander.
I thought I could maintain a high standard of moral conduct while controlling the lives of Palestinians under my occupation. I was wrong. It is impossible to coerce your surroundings by force and then go home and be a regular citizen.

The power you use and abuse in the Occupied Territories very quickly goes to your head. You come home less of a human being and more of a brute. It is impossible to maintain a system of force towards another people and a democracy in dealing with your own.
When our boys in Gaza come home after the assault ends, they, like me, will realise this.

How will they behave as heads of households when their initiation into society has been through violence? How will they understand government when they realise that this assault had no real goals, that part of its aim was a cynical pre-election strategy?\

How will they understand law after they have been made to see themselves as above it? How will they view the international community when they have seen how Israel disregards United Nations resolutions and international law? And why talk of the future when Israel's present conduct towards its own citizens has already deteriorated to a frightening low? Most of the world has heard about Gaza, but not that Israel has barred the media from entering the territory, with the exception of few Israeli journalists who accompany the troops and write reports that could have been written by the military itself.

More than 700 Israelis have been arrested for protesting against the war. More than 200 were still in custody at the time this was written, a third of them Israeli citizens under the age of 18.

But the Israelis who have been hurt most by this repression are not Jewish, but Arab citizens of the state. Israel's Parliament this week banned Arab political parties from running in general elections next month, a sign of growing confrontation with the country's Arab minority.

The present and future of Israeli democracy is in serious question. The world must understand that nations always have a choice about how to conduct themselves and these choices have consequences. Only then can we ask real questions. We must ask if Israel did all in its power to avoid this war. I and a growing number of Israelis do not believe this is the case.

More importantly, we must ask ourselves about our moral boundaries as a nation. I and a growing number of ex-combatants believe we crossed them long ago and are witnessing the collapse of our democracy as all means become acceptable in achieving vague military aims. -- © Guardian News & Media Limited

Noam Chayut is a 29-year-old veteran lieutenant of the Israeli military who served during the second intifada. He is a founder and activist of the organisation Breaking the Silence.