After deliberating a bit, as that was the method of the class, the final message was: “Do what you’re told.” We also talked about what is done with information on a target’s sexual preferences. Here, too, there was some would-be deliberation, but the message was that there is no problem with this issue. As an instructor I said that one should apply one’s own judgment and not always pass on such information. I did not feel I could express a stronger message. Anyway, class consensus was that this did not pose a problem. I was once made to listen to a talk that an Israeli security officer had with a Palestinian who he tried to recruit. It’s an excellent talk for instruction and learning. It was used by the unit for some years. There’s a point where he says, “Your wife’s brother has cancer.” The Palestinian answers, “So?” And he says, “Well, you know …” and they go on to speak about something else, and the Israeli keeps going back to the cancer issue. He said something like “Our hospitals are good” and he was clearly offering something to the Palestinian, or threatening him. Palestinians’ sex talks were always a hot item to pass on from one person in the unit to the other, for a good laugh. One person would call over another to come listen. Or some other entertaining talks. For example, “funny” medical conditions like haemorrhoids. It’s part of the unit’s morale. You also pass on photos for laughs that belong to targets, or just to Palestinians. Just photos, family photos, and the guys have a laugh when the children are ugly. There are also private photos, for example, that couples took for one another. At some point I distanced myself from this stuff. I told my friends this was wrong, but they all said it wouldn’t hurt anyone. Our superiors knew about it, no question about that. I would not even say they looked away, because it was obvious that it was OK and that there was no problem. If there was a problem it would only be for wasting work time, focusing on nonsense. The Israeli public thinks that intelligence work is only against terrorism, but a significant part of our objectives are innocent people, not at all connected to any military activity. They interest the unit for other reasons, usually without having the slightest idea that they’re intelligence targets. They cannot begin to guess for what reasons they interest the unit. We did not treat those targets any differently than we did terrorists. The fact that they were innocent was not at all relevant as far as we were concerned with regard to how we treated them. Something I had a really hard time with was that all kinds of personal data was stored in the unit, such that could be used to extort/blackmail the person and turn them into a collaborator. At the base we were told that if we find out some “juicy” detail about them, that it’s important to document it. Examples of this were a difficult financial situation, sexual preferences, a person’s chronic illness or that of a relative, and necessary medical treatment.