The death of the intelligence officer in prison returned to the IDF this week, after his parents sent an aggressive letter to the Chief Military Prosecutor demanding that an investigation be opened into the "murder" of their son.
T. died in the new military prison near Beit Lid last May. Committed suicide in the face of the serious offenses for which he was charged, or died as a result of a side effect of one of the psychiatric medications he took.
His family rejected the allegations;
T., they said, showed no signs of distress, and before he died he would communicate as usual with his immediate surroundings and even asked his family to bring him various items from home.
The investigation into the case, which is being conducted in the IDF, has not yet been completed. It is awaiting the final opinion of the Institute of Forensic Medicine regarding the circumstances of the death. If taking an overdose.
This is a unique laboratory of its kind in the world.
In fact, there are two such laboratories - one in Cyprus and the other in the US - but after it became clear that the Cypriot laboratory did not meet the required scientific standards, the American laboratory remained. The concentration of the second drug did not succeed.
This is a result that is sometimes obtained, but for all parties involved in the affair - it is the worst of all, because it does not allow to close the affair. An external event did not lead to his death - it is difficult to prove his version, and hence gives free rein to every possible conspiracy theory.
A chain of mistakes
T. was an outstanding soldier in a quality intelligence unit. The acts suspected were among the worst ever committed, and their potential for harm was insane. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying or does not know the affair.
T.'s parents know the truth: Unusually, after the death of their son, the military prosecutor's office allowed them to read the 33 pages of the indictment, one of the most serious known to the IDF. Reach an agreed-upon sentence in an attempt to avoid a lengthy trial, which could have led to the disclosure of the affair.
The security of the information and the fear of leaking details that could cause security damage are also the ones that guided the IDF from the first moment. This was a mistake. The security of the information is important, but it is not the whole picture. Of professional mistakes that damaged the trust of the family and the public in the IDF and its decisions. It was only after the information about his death in prison was published that the IDF realized that it needed to conduct this affair not only through security glasses, but also civilian and media.
But the damage had already been done. . The automatic rejection of their request to recognize their son as an IDF space contributed to this.
The decision of the IDF, and in fact of the Chief of Staff, is within reason. It also has many advocates inside and outside the organization, who are mostly afraid of advances. There is much point in their claims, but there is no precedent here. In the past, there have been several cases of civilians who were conscripted in retrospect, in order to grant them status and rights in the IDF space. I even had such a close friend: Ilan Roa, a reporter for Kol Yisrael in the north, who was killed in February '99 Lebanon. The vehicle in which they were traveling was hit by a Hezbollah charge. Three of the passengers were soldiers - Gerstein, his liaison Omar Alkabetz and his loyal driver Imad Abu Rish. Roa was the only civilian in the vehicle, but in the IDF it was decided to grant him equal status and soldier him in retrospect, while relying on his service in the regular and reserve medical corps.
A shepherd was a dear man, who did only good and was killed in the line of duty.
Between him and T. - who endangered the security of the state in an unprecedented way - there is nothing and half a thing.
But a precedent is a precedent, and there were others, including pilots who were recruited in retrospect.
Hence, the IDF's insistence is incomprehensible, and it is mainly harmful.
With each passing day, the rift between the army and the parents deepens. There is no shortage of buyers, certainly for those who associate intelligence affair with a mysterious death.
The parents cannot be blamed for this.
They want to know what happened to their son.
The problem is that the investigation, as stated, will not provide them with a conclusive answer.
And in the absence of exclamation marks, they will continue to demand answers.
This is their right, of course, but the constant danger that stands in the way is that the process of clarification will also lead to the excavation of various factors in the act itself, and God forbid to its exposure - which will lead to a security catastrophe, no less.
The IDF must change direction
This is the scenario that should be faced by any reasonable person involved in the affair, including the parents' lawyers who are familiar with the military prosecutor's office.
One of them, Sharon Zaggi-Pinchas, was the Chief Military Prosecutor.
Together with lawyers and members of Efrat Nhmni-br Kuznitz signed the letter this week launched a new MAG, Tomer-champion Yifat Yerushalmi (with copies to the Chief of Personnel Directorate), demanding that the Torah investigation "murder" case.
The Practice Know that murder was not here. The prison cell was regularly filmed and monitored. Parents were also allowed to watch the films from the last 24 hours of their son's life. What is clear is that there is no evidence in the films of any outside intervention by either of his cellmates, or by any other factor.
The problem, as stated, is that the investigation will not be able to determine anything unequivocally.
The possibility of an abnormal dose (i.e. suicide) exists, and also of an abnormal side effect, of the type that appears on any drug.
The parents will not buy it, and it is doubtful whether the public.
Even an external committee, demanded by the parents, will not yield other conclusions in the absence of additional scientific evidence.
In this situation, the IDF must change direction. Swallow its honor, and declare T. as an IDF space, while concluding with his parents that this will close the affair (assuming that no new details are revealed later).
Such a decision would stop the probing of various factors, which could lead to the disclosure of details that would cause harm, would restore some of the lost public trust, and most importantly would give rest, even partial, to the bereaved parents who had lost their son.