{"id":568822,"date":"2026-07-31T15:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/568822\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T15:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:28:16","slug":"14-givati-soldiers-dismissed-from-combat-duty-given-30-day-sentence-for-leading-desertion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/568822\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Givati soldiers dismissed from combat duty, given 30-day sentence for leading desertion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Israel Defense Forces said 14 soldiers of the Givati Brigade\u2019s Tzabar Battalion, who led a mass desertion of an army base in southern Israel on Thursday, were sentenced to 30 days in military jail.<\/p>\n

The commander of the Givati Brigade, Col. Netanel Shamaka, also permanently dismissed those soldiers from combat duty, the military said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, around 100 infantry soldiers left behind their weapons and abandoned the Sde Teiman base in southern Israel after their battalion commander destroyed decorative signs they had put up, according to the military.<\/p>\n

The soldiers claimed the signs were \u201cpart of our company\u2019s tradition.\u201d According to the army, the signs contained materials meant to disparage rookie soldiers. Infantry soldiers in the IDF have a history of hazing<\/a> new recruits and of deserting en masse over alleged mistreatment by commanders.<\/p>\n

Footage posted online showed the soldiers marching out of the base while chanting an obscenity against officers. Other footage from the base showed a disorganized mount of guns left behind by the soldiers, and the wreckage of the removed signs, including one with a hellish motif that read \u201cKingdom of Devils.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

The Givati soldiers\u2019 commander gave them until 4 p.m. to return to Sde Teiman or face punishment. The officer said the names of soldiers who failed to show up would be forwarded to the Military Police for further handling.<\/p>\n

By the evening, the military said most of the troops had returned to the base, aside from one platoon, around 30 to 40 soldiers.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tLeft to right: Troops of the Givati Brigade\u2019s Tzabar Battalion abandoned their base in southern Israel, July 30, 2026; weapons left behind by the troops; a sign belonging to troops that was smashed by their commander. (Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)<\/p>\n

On Friday, the IDF said those 80 or so troops who left the base without permission and later returned will be required to stay on base this weekend, during which they will undergo \u201ca command and educational process to strengthen the discipline, values and norms expected of IDF soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, two more troops who returned to the base overnight will be sentenced later, and one soldier has yet to return to base, the army adds.<\/p>\n

Regarding the battalion commander who took down decorative signs the troops had put up, the military said on Thursday that it backed his conduct.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the commander of the brigade, Col. Netanel Shamaka, and his commander, 162nd Division commander Brig. Gen. Sagiv Dahan, arrived at the Sde Teiman base on Thursday to speak with the soldiers regarding the incident.<\/p>\n

In a missive to troops, Shamaka said: \u201cDuring the war, you proved your commitment to the mission. You fought bravely, risked your lives across all combat sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cPrecisely out of this deep appreciation and gratitude, the disciplinary incident that recently took place in the Tzabar Battalion is a grave event that has no place in the IDF in general, nor in the Givati Brigade in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tWe can’t do this work alone.\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n

There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n

As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tYou’re a dedicated reader\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month. \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.<\/p>\n

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven\u2019t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n

Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israel Defense Forces said 14 soldiers of the Givati Brigade\u2019s Tzabar Battalion, who led a mass desertion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[78537,42,191024,257403,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-568822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-givati-brigade","tag-headlines","tag-idf-israel-defense-forces","tag-military-hazing","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}