Israel Investigates "Dancing Soldier" Footage

Israeli military says that it is probing a video which allegedly depicts a uniformed soldier dancing near a blindfolded and bound Palestinian female prisoner. The footage first appeared on Youtube and was later aired on several Israeli TV news reports.

Earlier in August, a female member of the Israeli military uploaded photos of her posing in front of Palestinian prisoners on Facebook. The Israeli army had described the incident as "shameful".

The latest video, which seems to have been recorded with a mobile phone, shows a soldier dancing around a Palestinian female with Arab music in the background. The soldier is seen shaking his body in a suggestive manner as he dances near the woman.

Palestinian officials declared the soldier's behavior "immoral and inhumane” and urged tough action against him. Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs Issa Qaraqei said, "It shows the very low immoral and inhumane status of the state of Israel”.
 
The Israeli army issued a statement to denounce the conduct, saying that such incidents are "isolated cases that do not represent the IDF as a whole". An investigation has been launched into the matter.

However Qaraqei insists that the "ugly Israeli actions represent a blatant violation of human rights". He further added that officials have identified the Palestinians shown in Facebook photos and have lodged a complaint against the female soldier.

Mr Qaraqei urged the international organizations to pressurize Israel to take action against the people involved in both incidents.