IDF Soldier Points Cocked Gun at Teen

JERUSALEM — The reprimand of an Israeli soldier — who was caught on video cursing and pointing a cocked gun toward the head of a Palestinian teen — has triggered the biggest outpouring of frustration by Israeli soldiers in years about their service in the West Bank. Thousands posted messages of support on social media for the infantry soldier after the army said he apparently violated norms of behavior during a shoving match in Hebron, where several hundred radical Israeli settlers guarded by soldiers live in daily friction with tens of thousands of Palestinians. Lerner said the soldier faces 20 days in military jail for twice striking unit commanders, not for the incident on the video. Lerner said the scroll on Channel 10's initial report mistakenly said the soldier was being relieved of combat duty. Still, the military's distancing itself from the soldier, identified only by his first name David, struck a nerve. A Facebook page with the theme "I stand with David HaNahlawi" --- slang for someone from the Nahal Infantry Brigade --- scored almost 130,000 likes.