'Settlers' conduct will be their ruin'

IDF taking off gloves following incident in which two soldiers were injured during clashes with settlers. Senior IDF officer tells Ynet, 'Should God forbid a terror attack occur, they will have some hard questions to ask themselves'
Hanan Greenberg

The incident in which two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were injured Wednesday by settlers in Yitzhar sparked uproar in the army which refuses to wane down. An IDF official told Ynet, "The disgraceful conduct of some of the settlers who hurt IDF forces and disrupted routine activity may one day be the ruin of them."

The official was referring to an exercise against terror attacks at the settlement that also included members of the local patrol unit. "It is completely unwarranted that an alertness exercise cannot end as planned due to such behavior and without any condemnation by the (local) leadership."

The official also added, "The riotes are located in a very dangerous area which may erupt into a terror attack at any moment. Instead of helping the soldiers maintain concentration, they do the exact opposite and should, God forbid, a terror attack occur they will have to ask themselves some hard questions."

The testimonies of soldiers who participated in the exercise illustrated a particularly grim picture of the rioters' behavior, some of whom were masked. "Some of them punctured tires with knifes and hurled stones which hurt a soldier's head. They torched tires and blocked the entrance gate into the settlement," one soldier related.

"We came in to perform an exercise to boost the security readiness in the community and got in return this event which left us with a bad feeling" one officer said.

Sources at the brigade described the settlers' behavior as that of "bullies" and noted that it appears as though there's no leadership controling the youths.

A senior IDF officer said that such conduct may even invite terror attacks. "Everyone sees these unnecessary confrontations, including those who want to carry out attacks. It is possible they may use it."

Tensions mounting

The tentions between IDF forces and settlers at the Nablus area has grown over the last few weeks. It began with the puncturing of tires of the brigade commander's car and continued with ongoing clashes.

The incidents are being investigated by the Judea and Samaria District Police. IDF sources implied that other ways of handling the situation will be considered. "A 17-year-old that deliberately hurts a soldier or prevents a wounded soldier from receiving treatment does not belong in the IDF and when the day comes that issue will be considered too," the senior officer said.

He added that "the soldiers are here on a variety of missions which are not of their choosing. Some of them had difficulties coping with what has been ordered them but they performed their duties impeccably. First and foremost in order to protect the communities and those living in them. The Jewish leadership must come to its senses and stop the lawbreakers."

The settlers on the other hand claimed that the exercise in Yitzhar had not been coordinated with them and said that they thought the forces arrived in order to demolish buildings set up against the freeze orders.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report

We can not allow the thug element in the settler community to hurt our soldiers.

The settlers must resist the freeze imposed on construction using non violent means, think Martin Luther King, Gandi, use these men as your model for resistance.

Control the thugs and punks in your community, that will destroy IDF vehicles and injury soldiers

I have had e mails that were critical of my position that soldiers must refuse an order to remove Jews from their homes, I have not changed my position.

However if the settlers declare war on the IDF and do not resist using only non violent methods I will change my mind.

The State of Israel must make it clear that any teenager that engaged in violence or vandalism against the IDF will not be allowed to serve in the IDF. As strange as it may seem the dream of many of these teens is to get into as elite unit in the IDF as possible. Take this dream away from them, it will be a great deterrent.

I have seen these thugs first hand and they act without any thought as to what harm their actions will cause. I have been their when people talked of murder as a way of revenge for a Jewish family that was murdered. I am proud of the fact that my actions that night stopped these thugs from murdering an innocent person. I am proud of the fact that my actions later put an end to these thugs being able to do any stupidity for a period of time.

Judea and Samaria are Jewish land.

We must keep our land in our possession.

We must never let this land become the cause that turns Jew against Jew.

We lost the Temples because of hatred, please let us not loose Judea and Samaria over even all of Israel because of hatred of our fellow Jews.

Settlers resist with love of your fellow Jew and with non violence.

Soldiers please do not throw your fellow Jews from their homes. If you can not follow my request than please do not use any more force than the minimum necessary.

We can not allow hate to rule us, it is easy to hate in these situations, remember we are all Jews.