Israel bars pro-peace veterans' group from schools

Israel banned Tuesday an organization critical of the army's treatment of the Palestinians from all schools and education institutions throughout the country.

Education Minister Naftali Bennet said in a statement that he forbids Breaking the Silence from conducting any activities with schools because the group "slanders Israel throughout the world."

Bennet, the leader of the far-right Jewish Home faction, accused the group of spreading "lies and propaganda against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF.)"

Bennet instructed the general manager of the Education Ministry to notify school principals of the new ban. "We send our children to the education system to encourage them for mutual responsibility not for harming IDF soldiers," he said.

The move came a day after Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon condemned the group and banned it from military bases.

Breaking the Silence was founded in 2004 by former soldiers. A spokesperson with the group said it has collected testimonies from over 1,000 soldiers, who testified of improper of illegal activities in the West Bank and Gaza. Its list of donors includes the European Union as well as individual European governments.

The group, which has been under increasing attacks by right-wing groups and lawmakers, said the bans were part of an effort to "silence civil society organizations."

"We, soldiers sent by Israeli society to serve in the (Palestinian) territories, know that it is our duty to speak out about what we did there," it said on its Facebook page. "We will not stop breaking the silence," it added. Endi