Israeli soldiers heading to prison for protesting evacuations

November 16, 2009

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Two Israeli soldiers were demoted and sentenced to prison for protesting the evacuation of Jewish settlers in violation of army protocol.

The soldiers, from the Nachshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, unfurled a banner Monday reading "Nachshon doesn't evict Jews either" on the roof of a building on their West Bank military base near Hebron.

They were sentenced to 30 days in jail, demoted and barred from serving as combat soldiers in the future, according to Ha'aretz.

The banner incident took place just hours after members of the soldiers' battalion guarded the perimeter of a settlement near Hebron while two illegal homes at the settlement were razed, according to reports.

In a similar incident last month, two members of the Shimshon Battalion unfurled a sign at their swearing-in ceremony that read "Shimshon will not evacuate Homesh" -- a West Bank settlement evacuated in 2005.

The Israel Defense Forces sentenced the Shimshon soldiers to 20 days in a military prison and barred them from serving as combat soldiers.

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