Following the attempt to charge an IDF soldier in Brazil for alleged war crimes, the IDF has decided on a radical change to its policies covering soldiers below the rank of general to protect them from exposure to such efforts around the world.
According to the new orders, which apply to all who serve in either the regular army or the reserves, any soldier from the rank of Full Colonel and below must be treated in the same way as pilots have been until today - with either only their back being filmed or with their faces blurred. Furthermore, they may only be identified by the first letter of their name.
Regarding soldiers with foreign or dual citizenship, who might find themselves being charged criminally when returning home, all such soldiers will be interviewed with a blurred face and without mentioning their full name, regardless of what unit they serve in.
The order makes an exception by order of the Chief of Staff for senior officers with the rank of Brigadier General and above. For them, interviews without blurred faces or concealed names is possible, but only with a pre-interview debriefing.
The order emphasizes that every single deviation from these rules requires specific approval.
The order covers media interviews, which can be and are tracked by anti-Israel activists for use in filing criminal complaints against Israeli soldiers and officers fighting in Gaza and elsewhere.
However, there is no mention of soldiers posting videos and images to social media, which sometimes demonstrate violations of IDF rules and discipline, and which are used by anti-Israel activists to both identify and track the soldiers and as evidence of their alleged involvement in war crimes.
A company commander in the Givati Brigade speaking to Army Radio earlier today (Wednesday) said that avoiding posting videos to social media is just "healthy judgment" and that doing otherwise endangers the soldiers themselves.
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