The Israeli Defence Force has a history of overzealous campaigns on its official social media accounts. So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that an IDF sniper doesn’t take his job very seriously. Or that’s the impression we get, since he Instagrammed a photo of what appears to be a Palestinian child in the crosshairs of his rifle scope. That’s messed up.
Buzzfeed reports that 20-year-old Israeli soldier Mor Ostrovkki posted the photo on Instagram and later took it down after it sparked outrage. With good reason! What the hell is this maniac thinking? Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the IDF has come out against the photo.
No matter where you fall on the Israel/Palestine issue, we all have to agree that it’s completely inappropriate to post a cyan glossed image glorifying child-murder on a social network. It betrays a lack of respect for human life. The IDF will condemn this, but you can’t help but think that the IDF’s callous approach to social media probably gave this soldier a skewed perception of right and wrong. [Buzzfeed and Haaretz]