Five former soldiers of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion who were convicted of criminal offenses after attacking Palestinian detainees during their service in the Israel Defense Forces and were sued in a civilian court by the Palestinians they attacked are now turning to crowdfunding to help with their legal defense. 

The five were arrested after attacking Palestinians a few days after a Hamas terrorist cell in December 2018 killed their friends, Sgt. Yuval Mor and  Sgt. Yosef Cohen, and mortally wounded another colleague. Three days prior to the attack on IDF soldiers, the same terror squad murdered a pregnant mother and wounded 10 other civilians.

With great sadness we report the deaths of two IDF soldiers in an attack this morning. Only one name is public, Staff Sgt. Yuval Mor Yosef, aged 20, from Ashkelon.
Our hearts go out to both victims and their families as well as the two additional people that were wounded. ZT"L pic.twitter.com/iPBS5tPhEb

— Friends of the IDF (@FIDF) December 13, 2018

With the arrest of Essam Barghouti, the head of the Hamas cell, the soldiers were asked to escort the two Palestinians who hid Barghouti for more than two weeks. The soldiers, due to what they claimed were frustrations of dealing with their comrades' deaths, resorted to violently assaulting the detained militants. Later they expressed sorrow and regret towards their actions and were all sentenced to military prison sentences of about four months.

The Palestinian Authority residents who were convicted of sheltering Barghouti were sent to Israeli prisons for relatively short terms. While in prison, they filed a lawsuit at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, against the State of Israel and the five IDF soldiers for the damages allegedly caused to them by the violence. 

You will not hear about this in the Israeli leftist media!

IDF combat soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda (Nahal Haredi) unit saved the life of an Arab who lost consciousness. This is the Haredi unit.

read more... pic.twitter.com/rJqGTvH1QV

— Documenting Israel (@israelmuse) February 16, 2022

The state informed the five young men that if they wanted to be defended by the Israeli government, they would have to pay about 100,000 shekels together to receive state representation. Otherwise, they would have to bear the verdict themselves and defend themselves alone.

Netzah Yehuda soldiers maintain a traditional Jewish lifestyle & proudly serve in the #IDF. We salute them pic.twitter.com/vUgsFFU8H7

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 3, 2014

The former servicemen received this news from the courts with complete astonishment.  Since the brigade they serve in is largely made up of ultra-Orthodox soldiers without any family support, the veterans did not have the means to finance the representation offered to them.

They appealed to the State Attorney's Office and the Ministry of Defense, with a request to cancel the payment requirement, on the grounds that "It is a violation of the IDF's moral duty to protect its soldiers, even in court." They also clarified "their actions are the result of the negligence of the commanders, the lack of identification and adequate mental response to their distress in view of their difficult situation, and they have already paid a heavy personal price for their actions."

The appeal was rejected as the soldiers acted in their own interest and broke military protocol with their unprofessional and unprovoked attack on the prisoners. After the appeal was rejected, they turned to public assistance to raise the money needed.

License to Kill: far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is working to advance legislation that would grant immunity to IDF soldiers and the Israel Police from investigations or trials for their actions during security incidents. https://t.co/bRJlIThCPZ

— NEWS MAKER (@NEWS_MAKER) December 20, 2022

"We feel neglected," the former combat soldiers said in a published statement. "We enlisted in the IDF because we believed that everyone must contribute, we served the country before and after the event, we accepted full responsibility for what we did and we are paying the price to this day, we expected the country to stand behind us.”