The World - News from July 17, 1989

Israel’s chief of staff has ordered an inquiry into reports of violence within one of the country’s elite army units. A military spokesman said the order by Lt. Gen. Dan Shomron followed a military court verdict last week in the case of a soldier who said he shot himself in the leg after being persecuted by fellow recruits in the Givati infantry brigade. Testimony at the trial included claims of violence among soldiers in the brigade, including verbal and physical abuse of officers. Official military sources said the accusations related to only one, since-disbanded company in the brigade.