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October 5, 2010
Posted: 1211 GMT
![]() Screen shot of video posted on You Tube (AFP/Getty Images) The Israeli military Tuesday denounced a video that surfaced on YouTube that showed what appeared to be an Israeli soldier dancing around a blindfolded and bound Palestinian prisoner. The video comes after a number of social media controversies have engulfed the Israeli military. This summer, a female former Israeli soldier posted photos of herself posing in front of blindfolded Palestinian prisoners. The photos and her subsequent defense of her actions sparked international criticism of the military. It was not known when the latest video was shot, but it appears to have been posted in 2008. The clip, which first aired Monday night on Israel's Channel 10, shows a man dressed in an Israeli army fatigues dancing next to a blindfolded female woman. Contacted by CNN, the Israeli military said it in a statement that is was investigating the incident and that such examinations would now become "standard practice in cases in which similar behavior is alleged" The statement went on to read: "The IDF denounces actions such as those depicted in the videos, and continues to make every effort to eliminate such behavior through briefings to soldiers, directives to officers, military orders, and punishment when necessary. Our soldiers are held to the ethical standards set forth by the IDF Code of Ethics, which they are taught time and again, from basic training to the most senior command courses. The videos are isolated cases that do not represent the IDF as a whole. "
Ghassan Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, said the video was " a disgusting illustration of the sick and hostile mentality of the Israeli soldiers serving as occupiers in the Palestinian territories." "It should remind the whole world that it is about time to end this illegal occupation and to allow the Palestinian their basic right of freedom," he said. In August, the pictures posted on Facebook by a former soldier - identified online as "Eden from Ashdod" in Israel - prompted harsh reactions. In one photo, she is seen smiling sitting on a blast barrier next to a blindfolded man. In another, she is sitting in front of three blindfolded Palestinians, one with his hands tied in front of him. The photos have since been taken down from her Facebook site, but Israeli media reports the photos were labeled "IDF - best time of my life." Earlier this year, another video of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron dancing in unison to the Ke$ha song "Tick Tock" went viral. Posted by: Kevin Flower
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