(Thumbnail Image: YouTube)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

The Israeli military is being criticized after the discovery of video depicting an Israeli soldier belly-dancing around a blindfolded and handcuffed female Palestinian prisoner.
Here’s a look at that video... (YouTube)

The video was shot on a cell phone in December 2007 and uploaded to YouTube. It went unnoticed until Israel’s Channel 10 News aired the video earlier this week. The original upload, which has now been removed, included a caption over the woman’s head saying “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.”

The soldier’s actions are being called humiliating and dehumanizing. The video is sparking outrage among critics of the IDF, the Israeli military. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says that video is a disturbing look into IDF culture.

"This is a disgusting illustration of the sick mentality of the occupier. This is not an isolated incident. ... The soldiers are fed by a wider Israeli policy that behaves (as if it were) above the law and human rights values." Al Jazeera

You might remember, back in August, another former IDF soldier posted photos to Facebook showing her posing with bound and blindfolded Palestinians, calling it the most beautiful time of her life. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says incidents like these have damaged the image of the IDF.

"These actions and videos are an embarrassment to the IDF and to the State of Israel. They cause us heavy damage internationally. The IDF is one of the most moral armies in the world and treats prisoners and detainees with honor. Humiliating [them] is not the way of the State of Israel and not the way of the Jewish people." Haaretz

Critics argue that incidents like this occur far too often. An attorney for the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Bana Shoughry-Badarne, says the problem is that the IDF does a poor job of policing its own.

“Unfortunately the problem is not only that it’s not the most moral army in the world, but the fact is that there is a culture of impunity where such humiliations, such violations and crimes, are not actually convicted.” Russia Today

The IDF maintains that this is an isolated incident, but it may be far from finished. The woman in the video is reportedly trying to sue the IDF, and Hamas has threatened to kidnap the Israeli soldier.