JERUSALEM (JWN)—Lt. Col. Shaul Eisner, the former deputy commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade, was Wednesday barred from a command position and promotion for two years, after beating a foreign protester with his rifle butt last week.

Eisner commented on the incident, which was caught on video that since went viral on YouTube, that he regrets hitting the activist “in front of cameras.”

“It could have been a professional mistake to use a weapon in front of the cameras,” he told Channel 10. “It was a two minute confrontation,” he said,” so yes, it’s true that some pictures look bad, but I used a weapon… in a cold manner, as a stick. I didn’t kill anyone and I did not put anyone’s life in danger.”

Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz fired Eisner on the recommendations of OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon and OC Ground Forces Maj.-Gen. Sami Turgeman. Gantz said Eisner’s attack on Danish activist Andreas Ias was a “moral failure.”