Last Friday, Breaking the Silence supporters read out testimonies of soldiers about the IDF’s misdeeds. A long time ago, when the organization first became active, I was among those who came to its defense. Because when there are exceptions, they must be exposed. They must not be concealed. I believed at the time, and others still believe, that the organization’s goal is to fix, improve and even strengthen the IDF. The problem is that something happened in the past decade.

In 2001, the Durban Conference was held in South Africa under the banner of fighting racism. The conference quickly turned into a festival of hatred and incitement against the State of Israel.

Since then and to this very day, the goal of the “Durban strategy,” whose most prominent tool is the boycott and sanctions campaign against Israel (BDS), is not promoting reconciliation or peace based on two states for two people, but destroying the original sin of the State of Israel’s establishment as a national home for the Jewish people. The two leaders of the campaign, Omar Barghouti and Ali Abunimah, have said it themselves.

What does this have to do with Breaking the Silence? Well, in the past few years the organization’s activists have become partners in the campaign. The organization’s founder, Yehuda Shaul, who has become a draft dodger, was a guest of the South African office of the BDS movement in August 2013.

Another organization activist, Eran Efrati, has been visiting US campuses and spreading slanderous lies against Israel. His sponsors include Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), one of the most malicious organizations against Israel. The activity takes place mostly around the world: The organization’s activists have gone all the way to Australia to slander Israel.

These are the actions of someone who has joined the demonization campaign. These are not the actions of someone who wants to improve things.

IDF is far from being perfect, but…

There are exceptions. The IDF has acted against them, a bit more than the United States and Britain have acted against suspicions of war crimes among their soldiers. Sometimes it’s slightly difficult to deal with the allegations made by the organization’s activists, as these are rumors which cannot be refuted in any way, and according to the Popperian principle, an argument which cannot be refuted is not an argument.

If we take the organization’s allegations in regards to Operation Cast Lead, why even if the testimonies were true – they have to do with a small fraction of the actions. The IDF is far from being perfect. There were and there are exceptions. The Israeli army is making an effort, more than any other army in the world, to prevent hurting innocent people. This effort should be encouraged.

But from the moment Breaking the Silence activists joined the “Durban strategy,” from the moment they were sponsored by organizations like SJP, they deserve a badge of shame, because these bodies declare in the clearest way possible: Our goal is to destroy the Zionist entity.

Similar bodies, like Veterans for Peace, are active in the US and Britain. They present testimonies. They oppose war. Assuming that all the testimonies presented by the Breaking the Silence activists are true, Israel has not inflicted one-tenth of the damage that the US and Britain have inflicted on innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If the Western campuses fear for human rights, how is it possible that the testimonies from Israel are virtually the only show? This happens because the anti-Israeli darkness mechanism does not seek human rights. It seeks to turn Israel into a monster.

When Breaking the Silence activists stop being the useful idiots, intentionally or intentionally, of the campaign for Israel’s destruction, they will be blessed. Until then, we must treat them like any another organization which has joined the “Durban strategy” campaign.