A diplomatic incident with Denmark over an IDF officer´s slamming the face of a Danish protestor with his M-16 rifle was averted by the IDF´s quick disciplinary action and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu´s immediate condemnation, diplomatic officials said Monday.

Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sondal said in a statement posted on the Danish Foreign Ministry´s web site that "we do not yet know the circumstances surrounding the incident," and that Denmark´s ambassador to Israel Liselotte Kjærsgaard Plesner had "immediately asked the Israeli authorities for an explanation."

"I can see that the soldier involved was immediately suspended and the matter is now being investigated," Sondal said.

Sondal noted that Netanyahu had already condemned the incident. "We must all condemn the use of force, which apparently has occurred against the demonstrators," he said. Within three hours after the incident aired on Channel 2 Sunday night, Netanyahu condemned it and said that behavior such as this had no place in the IDF or in Israel.

According to foreign Ministry officials, Kjærsgaard Plesner phoned the ministry in the morning and asked for information about the incident, and what steps Israel was taking. She said she would relay back to Copenhagen Netanyahu´s condemnation, as well as the IDF´s decision to remove the officer -- Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner, the deputy commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade -- from his post and open an investigation into the matter. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 04/16/12)