Israeli officer punished for violence against protesters

By JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has reprimanded an officer who used excessive force against protesters in the occupied West Bank. The punishment was announced Sunday in response to a pair of recent incidents, including pushing a 65-year-old Israeli peace activist to the ground. It says the officer, who is a major, deviated from “professional norms” and will not be eligible for a promotion for three years. The activist was injured njured in the eye while trying to deliver water to a Palestinian village in the southern West Bank. His group, Combatants for Peace, said Sunday’s punishment was a “farce.”