"We heard about what appeared to be grave incidents, unjustified fire at civilians and vandalism of property," said Danny Zamir, a retired army officer who heads the academy. "But of more concern was the unbridled contempt and reckless disregard for Palestinians."
Zamir said he passed the reports to the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.
According to an account by a squad leader, an Israeli sharpshooter killed a Palestinian woman and her two children after they misunderstood another soldier's order and turned the wrong way. The sharpshooter had not been told the civilians were being released from the house where they were confined and, in compliance with standing orders, opened fire when they approached.
"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all . . . he did his job according to the orders he was given," the squad leader was quoted as saying.
"And the atmosphere in general [was that] the lives of Palestinians, let's say, are something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers, so as far as they are concerned they can justify it that way."
In another incident, a different squad leader said an elderly woman was shot dead on orders of a company commander as she walked on a road about 100 yards away.
That squad leader said he argued with his commander over the rules of engagement.
Another soldier quoted in the reports said troops felt they could write "Death to the Arabs" on the walls of homes, toss furniture out the windows and spit on family pictures "just because you can."
Neither the soldiers who spoke out nor those who committed alleged abuses were identified in the transcript. Zamir said those who reported abuses "felt uncomfortable because they could not prevent them."
Several officers and soldiers who were not at the gathering said they were surprised by the accounts.
"It's hard for me to believe these things happened. They seem unfounded," Assaf Dantziger, a 21-year-old soldier who fought in Gaza, told the Ynet online news service. If the soldiers saw comrades doing wrong, he added, "they should have done something about it instead of running out and talking."
Moshe Hager, a retired brigadier general who heads a different military academy, said: "I do not believe a sniper would see a child in his sights and shoot him. But if such a thing happened it must be investigated."
