17 August 2010 Last updated at 09:36 ET

Israeli woman soldier denies Facebook photos wrongdoing

The pictures were later removed from public view on Ms Aberjil's profile

A former Israeli soldier who posted pictures of herself on Facebook posing with blindfolded Palestinian prisoners says she did nothing wrong.

Eden Aberjil, 26, said she had had death threats over of the images and was surprised at the backlash.

She said the pictures had been taken to "remember the experience" in the army.

Speaking to the BBC, an army spokesman condemned what he called "shameful behaviour by a young soldier".

"It's a compulsory army and part of the soldiers do not understand the seriousness of the situation they are in and the duty they are given in the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces]," Capt Arye Shalicar told BBC World Service.

Israeli anti-torture activists said more needed to be done to teach soldiers respect.

Ms Aberjil said the pictures were not intended to be a political statement and the prisoners had been treated well.

It had "never occurred to her", she told Army Radio, that there might be a problem with the pictures, and she insisted had been a "model soldier".

Ms Aberjil has already been discharged from the army having completed her mandatory military service.

The pictures show her in uniform, smiling next to three bound and blindfolded prisoners.

Pictures removed

"There's no violence or intention to humiliate anyone in the pictures," she said.

Analysis

Paul Wood BBC News, Jerusalem

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A great many young Israeli soldiers have photograph albums quite similar to Eden Aberjil's "The army: the best days of my life".

The only difference is that they do not post them on Facebook.

That explains her remark that she still did not "understand what was wrong" and the comment of Dr Ishai Menuchin of the Committee Against Torture in Israel that "she is a bad apple, but all the box are bad apples".

The IDF likes to think of itself as the most ethical army in the world and so condemned the photographs in strident terms. (They are also no fools when it comes to public relations).

For most young conscripts, and young Israelis who have completed their military service, I suspect the reaction will not be outrage but a simple shrug of the shoulders.

• Anger at Israel Facebook photos

"I just had my picture taken with them in the background. I did it out of excitement, to remember the experience."

Ms Aberjil had put the images in a Facebook album named "The army: the best days of my life" several weeks ago.

Their existence was reported by media on Monday, and they have now been taken down.

"I find it astounding that there are so many people who want peace and I'm the one ruining it for them," she said, adding that she had received "loads of death threats" but was not scared.

She said she was disappointed by the army's response to the pictures.

Condemning the photos, another army spokesman, Barak Raz, said they did not "reflect the spirit of the IDF, our ethical standard to which we all aspire".

Capt Shalicar said that one of the aims of the IDF was educational, teaching young conscripts what was right and wrong.

If Ms Aberjil was serving in the IDF today, he suggested, "most probably her commander would give her the right punishment and they would maybe put her behind bars for a few weeks".

'Humiliating'

Palestinian groups said the images were humiliating and revealed the "mentality of the occupier".

"This shows the mentality of the occupier, to be proud of humiliating Palestinians," Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib told the Associated Press news agency.

"The occupation is unjust, immoral and, as these pictures show, corrupting."

A spokesman for the campaign group the Israeli Committee Against Torture, Ishay Menuchin, said the Israeli military needed to do more to stop the abuse of Palestinian prisoners.

"The problem is that they can condemn her, but they need to work and educate these soldiers that Palestinians are civilians with human rights and they should treat them as human beings, not as a background for a pose," he said.