Israel's social media coup

The controversy surrounding Israeli soldiers’ use of social media has deepened after an Electronic Intifada exclusive revealed one conscript’s violent images and statements on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The scandal originally broke after 20-year-old sniper Mor Ostrovski posted a picture on photo-sharing website Instragram appearing to show a young Palestinian’s head in the centre of his rifle’s crosshair sights. The Israeli army condemned the revelation as “a severe incident” that did not “accord with the IDF’s [Israeli Defence Force] spirit and values.” The Israeli army launched an investigation into the incident, after Ostrovski’s commanders had reportedly been notified. On Wednesday Electronic Intifada, co-edited by US-Palestinian activist-journalist Ali Abunimah, unearthed more scandalous social media accounts being used by another Israeli soldier to post violent content in contravention of army codes of conduct. The 20-year-old soldier, Osher Maman, posted images of himself posing naked with rifles, making a Star of David symbol out of automatic weapons and smoking marijuana, which is illegal in the Israeli army. Maman, a member of Israel's prestigious Golani Brigade, moved to the Middle East from Naples, Florida for military service in August 2011. In January 2012, Maman posted a violent tweet, saying: “Just took an Arab out…Whataa feeling [sic].” Responding to another Instagram user, Maman said: “You’re never going to win over Israel (the chosen people) bc you’re a bunch of slaves [sic]…I probably am the slave master of some Arab who’s related to you.” The Israeli army has not commented on the report.