The Israeli reservists speaking out against the claims of their fellow combat soldier, Avner Gvaryahu, a leader of Breaking the Silence. Photo: Screenshot.

A group of Israel Defense Forces reservists who served in the army with Avner Gvaryahu, a leading member of whistle-blowing group Breaking the Silence, released a video in which they “tell the truth” about what really went on in their unit, the Israeli news website 0404 reported on Wednesday, and posted the clip on its Facebook page.

“I was there every night during the period he [Gvaryahu] talks about,” says one former member of Gvaryahu’s staff, at the opening of the video. Nothing happened “the way he describes,” he said.

Another former soldier bemoans the harm done to Israel when Gvaryahu goes around the world recounting stories about the IDF, without giving the full picture of what the soldiers are up against, and how they often “endanger their lives” precisely in the sincere effort to prevent harming innocent people.

A third says that even the argument about how “moral” the Israeli army is — or is not — should take place at home, not abroad.

A fourth says that Gvaryahu’s stories are false, and this causes him to question the rest of the “evidence” provided by Breaking the Silence.

Breaking the Silence is a foreign-funded Israeli NGO founded by reservist soldiers and officers in the IDF, who have been highlighting purported abuses on the part of their comrades-in-arms against the Palestinian population in the West Bank.

The group has become the focus of a major controversy, particularly of late, with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon banning it from IDF events and Education Minister Naftali Bennett barring it from schools.

In addition, the Zionist youth organization Im Tirtzu recently produced a clip calling members of Breaking the Silence “moles” who receive money from the European Union, Palestinian NGOs and other sources to paint the IDF in a negative light, thereby abetting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS).

Breaking the Silence has said it opposes BDS, and accuses its opponents of trying to curtail its freedom of expression.