On June 7, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked had asked the attorney general to launch an inquiry into claims by Dean Issacharoff, the spokesman for Breaking the Silence, that during his military service he had beaten a Palestinian. A little more than five months later, on Nov. 16, the state prosecutor decided to close the case.

The investigation had moved along at record speed considering the significant resources required to locate the said Palestinian in the West Bank city of Hebron and to question him about an event that according to Issacharoff occurred in February 2014. During the accelerated inquiry, police located a Palestinian resident of Hebron named Hassan Julani, who confirmed that he had indeed been arrested that year for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, but who denied having been beaten or injured. Issacharoff, on the other hand, claims the police inquiry was negligent and that they had questioned the wrong man, not the one he had abused.

The affair began some six months ago after Breaking the Silence — a nongovernmental organization that documents the abuse of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers — posted a video in which Issacharoff, a former combat officer, recounted how during his military service in Hebron he had beaten a Palestinian in his chest and face until he bled. Publication of his testimony led Shaked to request the attorney general's involvement, but it seems that rather than a desire to see justice done, she was motivated by her desire to bring down his organization.

More than any other human rights organization operating in Israel, Breaking the Silence has borne the brunt of broad public criticism charging that the group defames the Israeli state and the military. Its critics do not necessarily identify with the political right. For example, Yair Lapid, who heads the self-professed centrist Yesh Atid, has personally led a campaign against Breaking the Silence.