A bullying, looting regime, blanketed in self-pitying myth, bent on clearing the entire land of Palestinians. If this blog came from an Arab many would like to dismiss it as typical hyperbole. It is written by Israeli son of IDF General Peled, based on his accumulated experience and research

Rabbi Moshe Ravad, Chief Rabbi of the Israel Air Force, resigned his position because haredi soldiers have not been exempted from events with women singing. Some soldiers have said they will put halachic law before state law and leave the armed forces

Settler and right-wing gangs now recognise no limit to their power: from Palestinians and peace protesters through sacred places to the IDF itself. Few of the thugs are ever arrested let alone punished. A diatribe from +972 and news repor from Ma’an

Mustafa Tamimi, a well-known activist in the non-violent Palestinian resistance, was killed last Friday by a tear gas canister shot directly into his face by an Israeli soldier. For once, this killing of a Palestinian was reported by media outside Palestine – a testimony to the power of photographic evidence. His friend reports.

The rule of ultra-Othodox and right-wing rabbis over what soldiers should eat, the role of women and whom they should admire (killer Yigal Amir not killed Yitzhak Rabin) is causing consternation amongst older generals and fearful compliance amongst younger ones. Haaretz report.

The IDF want to release some Fatah prisoners to bolster Abbas’s weakened Palestinian Authority against Hamas. But Netanyahu and his close advisers are determined to maintain pressure on Abbas as punishment for his unilateral bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state.

We post here the first four and the last of 57 testimonies collected by Breaking the Silence through interviews with nearly 40 soldiers who have served in Hebron during thepast three years. There is also video testimony on their website http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/videos/

‘Price-tag’ thugs – whose violent assaults on Palestinians is the price the settlers exact for any infringment of settlers’ ‘right’ to occupy what land they want – have increased their reach- more Palestinian homes, mosques, people and now an IDF base. Netanyahu wonders how to control the monster he has nurtured

An IDF reservist reports on the gulf between official policy – which includes enforcing curfews and not firing tear gas at civilians – and the reality of bored, anti-Arab soldiers and officers

West Bank settlers have moved from harrassment, land seizure and house demolition into acts to terrorise Palestinians into leaving. Two news reports from Ma’an News are followed by a blog from One Democracy

Three of many anniversary postings: in 1982 a camp in Lebanon for Palestinian and other refugees, surrounded by the IDF, was entered by a Phalangist militia who killed 800-3500 refugees. The horror of the event has been a potent factor for Palestinians demanding the right of return.

Disappointment with the Palmer report on the flotilla invasion has been intense – but, writes Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the OPT, one look at how the panel was constituted explains why it lacked the expertise to have found the IDF action and blockade of Gaza unlawful

Caught between hysteria at the prospect of ‘September’ and inertia as history moves on, Netanyahu’s government – and settlers – prepare for violence after the UN vote Thus they destroy hopes of reform writes Uvi Avnery

B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, responds to last week’s violence with a charge against ‘Palestinians’ (1st) of actual war crimes and a warning to the IDF (2nd) of potential crimes. Its data of Palestinian attacks covers a seven year period.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy proposes bill to take US subsidy from elite IDF units which, he alleges, commit acts that violate human rights in the Gaza strip and occupied territories

In a letter to the Israeli ambassador to the UK, the JfJfP expresses its shock and dismay at the violent arrests of Freedom Theater staff. A press release from the theatre follows, detailing the events. Last is a news report from Haaretz aking if the use of the army is connected to the murder last April of the theatre’s founder, Juliano Mer-Khamis

Despite criticism of the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, (Aviel Magnezi) the UN commission, headed by Geoffrey Palmer, has, say Israeli media, also judged the raid itself, and Israel’s blockade of Gaza, to be legal. There is as yet no date for the publication of the report (Barak Ravid, Jonathan Lis)

As the navy prepares for the Stay Human flotilla to Gaza, the IDF tries to prepare for any Palestinian response to the September UN declaration of statehood

On Naksa day – the June 5 anniversary of the 1967 ‘setback’ when Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights etc – Lebanon and Hamas stopped people marching on the border. As the Syrian government now favours such protest, the IDF is preoccupied with stopping them

Uri Avnery, first, and then Ali Abunimah respond to the violence of the IDF against unarmed Palestinians trying to cross a border erected against them