Two elite IDF soldiers injured during training exercises
One is said to have been paralyzed after hitting his back on a rock after being ordered to jump from a moving hummer
By ANNA AHRONHEIMIDF soldiers(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
An elite IDF soldier was severely injured and another moderately injured in training exercises over the past two weeks, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced Sunday.The military said that following the serious accidents the division commander will conduct an investigation.According to reports in Hebrew language media the soldier in the IDF’s elite Maglan reconnaissance unit, which is tasked with carrying out operations far behind enemy lines, had been ordered to jump from a moving Hummer during a training exercise.According to Kan news, he jumped into a thatch of thorns and fell onto a rock, severely injuring his back and leaving him paralyzed.Another soldier was moderately wounded the week before during a Krav Maga military self-defense and fighting exercise conducted without proper authorization.According to reports, he was punched in the stomach during the exercise; while he complained of pain after being hit, he was not taken immediately to hospital. Only after complaining of the pain worsening did the unit officer allow for him to be evacuated to hospital.The commander of the Central Command, Maj.-Gen. Nadav Padan, appointed an investigative team headed by Brig.-Gen. Itai Virov, who will conduct a full examination of the commanders’ conduct in the unit. The military stated that another team was appointed by the Commander of Ground Forces Maj.-Gen. Kobi Barak to investigate the incident.In addition to the investigations, safety briefings were conducted and the military decided to stop some of the unit’s training.“The events will be thoroughly examined and lessons will be learned,” read the statement released by IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit.The serious accidents come just months after another soldier from the elite Duvdevan unit was shot and killed by his friend while waiting for a training exercise on an IDF base in the center of the country.
In addition to the injuries sustained by the elite soldiers, several new recruits in the 401st Armored Brigade were injured after their commanders ordered them to do push-ups on metal stairs in 40-degree heat.According to Channel 2 news, the recruits suffered burns to their hands and were exempted from duty due to their injuries.“The incident will be reexamined and if we find inappropriate conduct there will be disciplinary action,” read a statement provided to The Jerusalem Post by the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit.Channel 2 also reported that several soldiers at the Armored Corps’ Shizafon base in the Negev were ordered to sit tense and attentive for 50 minutes in a crowded room with no air conditioning; if a soldier moved, he would be punished and screamed at by his commanders.“The incident is not consistent with IDF values and does not characterize what happens at the base. Those responsible for the incident were tried by the commanders in disciplinary proceedings,” the military said.