Israeli soldiers scolded after 'Gangnam Style' nightclub dance

By August Brown

Aug. 30, 2013 10:45 AM PT

If there’s anything that Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians could agree on, the joys of “Gangnam Style” might have been on that list.

But alas, a group of Israeli soldiers are in hot water after video surfaced of the troops dancing with Palestinian locals to Psy’s K-Pop hit at a Hebron nightcub, while they were ostensibly on patrol.

It’s the latest of many impromptu Psy tribute dances that have gotten its subjects in trouble with authorities. And it’s not the first time Israeli Defense Forces troops have been warned about pop music dance-offs -- a 2010 video of soldiers dancing to Kesha’s “Tik Tok” in Hebron also earned them rebuke from their superiors after it went viral.

Amateur cellphone footage of the dance party looks like a really great time, and a rare moment of levity between the two long-opposed groups. An Israeli solider is repeatedly shown hoisted on a partygoer’s shoulders and dancing with guests while still holding his gun.

But the soldier’s bosses didn’t see it that way. They suspended the troops -- part of the high-ranking Givati Brigade -- while they investigate if the dance-off put anyone at unnecessary risk.

While Pop & Hiss never endorses risky armed behavior, we were definitely smiling while watching the clip. If the world’s great geopolitical problems are ever to be solved, it will probably happen during K-Pop dance parties. Psy, an effective 21st century diplomat -- who knew?