Lt Col Shalom Eisner reported to have expressed regret over attack as Israeli defence minister joins condemnation of incident


Amid continued widespread coverage of the incident in the Israeli media, the defence minister, Ehud Barak, joined in the condemnation of the incident, saying the actions of Lt Col Shalom Eisner were unacceptable and that a full inquiry would be held.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said the investigation was already advanced and a swift conclusion was expected. "The commanders are treating the incident very seriously because the pictures were not representative of IDF values," said a spokeswoman, Avital Liebovich.

Benny Gantz, the chief of staff, was involved in the inquiry but Liebovich declined to comment on Israeli media reports that he favoured the soldier's dismissal. Precedent suggests he is more likely to be demoted.

According to one report, Eisner, the deputy commander of the IDF's Jordan Valley brigade, told friends: "I erred in my response." However, he claimed that the video clip broadcast on Israeli television and websites was an edited fragment of a much longer confrontation between the army and a group of international pro-Palestinian activists in the West Bank on Saturday.

Eisner's associates said that the activists had been violent and that the soldier's hand had suffered fractures during the confrontation. However, the Dane, 20-year-old Andreas Ias, denied that the activists had been violent and challenged the officer to prove the allegations. The video clip shows an unprovoked assault by Eisner on Ias, who needed stitches to his lips.

Thousands of Israelis reportedly signed an online petition supporting Eisner, and a letter-writing campaign against the threat of dismissal was launched by reservist soldiers.

The IDF declined to comment on whether the incident had been filmed by an army cameraman, as is routine. About 100 combat soldiers had been professionally trained to use video cameras, Liebovich said. "We also understand the importance of the picture – not just for public diplomacy but also for intelligence-gathering," she added.

According to advice distributed by the military to soldiers, obtained by the Ynet website: "The media has taken a central place on the modern battlefield and constitutes a lethal, yet legitimate weapon … The media does not reflect reality as a mirror, but rather shapes and influences it. The Palestinians make good use of this tool. It's important to be the one leading and not the one being led."

The incident, along with a major security operation at the weekend to prevent hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists passing through Ben Gurion airport en route to the West Bank, has fuelled a debate about the government's treatment of what it describes as "provocateurs".

Critics say Israel is damaging its image abroad through excessive heavy-handedness. But Danny Danon, the deputy speaker of the Israeli parliament, wrote in Tuesday's Jerusalem Post: "The state of Israel is at war. This war is being fought on a completely different battlefield to the past, one in which the word de-legitimisation has replaced bullets, and provocative actions such as the flotilla have replaced tanks and fighter planes … Would we allow a suicide bomber into our country so that we could attempt a 'dialogue' with him?"

The state, he said, must "implement a three-pronged approach to keeping these terrorists out of Israel: prevent, arrest and deport". He urged that Ias, the Danish activist, be arrested and deported immediately.