IDF

From RationalWiki

The Israel Defense Forces ( צבא הגנה לישראל), usually referred to as the IDF, was founded on the 26th of May 26, 1948 following the establishment of the state of Israel. Its objective is "to protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten the daily life".

The IDF is regularly accused of ignoring basic human rights: Here is a small selection of recent reports from Human Rights Watch outlining questionable actions on the part of the IDF.

• "The Israeli army should immediately cease deliberately endangering Palestinian civilians by forcing them to assist military operations."
• "Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to endanger children and should immediately halt practices risking children’s lives."
• "Israel’s indiscriminate airstrikes, not Hezbollah’s shielding as claimed by Israeli officials, caused most of the approximately 900 civilian deaths in Lebanon during the July-August 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah."
• "The human devastation inflicted on Lebanon by Israel’s illegal use of cluster munitions highlights the urgent need for an international treaty banning the weapon."
• "The Israeli government should go beyond a military “field investigation” and conduct an impartial and thorough probe into the tank shelling that killed a Reuters cameraman and three other civilians in Gaza on April 16."

They have really cool up-armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, which they use to remove buildings that are harboring terrorists or, more commonly, Palestinian families.