Israeli officer fired for striking activist

Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had dismissed an officer who was caught on video striking a pro-Palestinian activist in the face.

"Lt. Col. Eisner was dismissed from his position and will not serve as the Deputy Commander of the IDF Officer School, and will not be eligible to serve in commanding positions in the next two years," an Israeli Defense Forces statement said of Shalom Eisner, who served as commander for soldiers in the West Bank.

Eisner's dismissal also follows the Tuesday night broadcast of comments he made to friends defending his actions. In an audiotape quoted widely in the Israeli media, Eisner is heard saying that he used his rifle as a stick in order to prevent his soldiers from being harmed. He also admitted that the pictures of the incident looked bad but that it did not represent a failure of values.

"I didn't kill anyone and didn't endanger anyone's life," Eisner said. Read More