The Israeli Defence Force conducted unethical medical experiments on more than 700 of its troops in the late 1990s, an expert panel has found. The tests were conducted in violation of the 1975 Helsinki Accords, although the side effects were fairly minor and only a few dozen people were affected.

The story came to light after some soldiers complained of headaches and dizziness and skin, respiratory and digestive problems after participating in tests for an anthrax vaccine. They were conducted when it was feared that Saddam Hussein was developing chemical and biological weapons to lob into Israel with his Scud missiles. The Israeli Defence Ministry has defended the experiment, saying that it was of "strategic importance to Israel's security".

The panel found that "No scientific justification was found for the experiment, scientific background was lacking, the experiment's design and execution did not suit its goals, and no result would have justified those goals. Also, conventional guidelines were not followed, risks and possible side effects were not thoroughly investigated, and a follow-up mechanism to keep track of participating soldiers was not set up."

Opinions are divided in Israel about the experiments. Israeli Physicians for Human Rights have filed a lawsuit in protest against what they see as unethical behaviour by the military. But a committee of the Israel Medical Association concluded that the experiment's directors conducted the tests in good faith. “We were impressed by the experiment's directors and medical supervisor's credibility,” it said, “and of the fact that they were convinced that they were doing the best they could do in order to advance what they saw as a worthy project." ~ Haaretz, Mar 31; AP, Mar 26