Ynetnews reports:
The conflict between some IDF officers and settlers is reaching a boiling point even months before the planned disengagement.A top IDF officer told colleagues at an army conference that he is more afraid of Jewish settlers than Palestinians, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.Lieutenant Colonel Guy Hazut said he feels his life is threatened in some Jewish settlements.“I am not afraid to enter a Palestinian village as much I am afraid to enter Yitzhar,” Hazut told the army audience. “I feel my life is threatened there. A moment longer and I would have been lynched. Yitzhar has a group of lawbreakers. The police and IDF’s honor is being sacraficed.”
Pardon my French, but this is such bullsh*t. Would some residents of these communities give the soldiers a hard time? Yes, probably. Would this involve physical harm? Doubt it. Would it involve lynching? No way.
Perhaps Hazut should be more afraid when entering a PLO Arab village. Because we know they do lynch.
Meanwhile, IDF Central Command Head Major General Yair Naveh obviously understands that all residents of these communities are being systematically demonized, and has actually apologized for the conduct of some IDF soldiers toward them.
Hazut’s comments included an attack on IDF Central Command Head Major General Yair Naveh who criticized the company commander who attacked Yitzhar settlers after he and his soldiers were provoked by them, Yedioth reported.The remarks were made at a conference attended by IDF officers of all ranks that convened to discuss the Gaza disengagement plan.About three weeks ago, Captain Maor Shoshan, who had served until recently as the company commander securing the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank, was quoted as saying that he and his soldiers had undergone a series of humiliations by settlers.He exposed how settlers had cut off the soldiers’ water supply, threw stones and threatened a soldier with a weapon. Amid the mounting tension it was decided to withdraw IDF troops from the settlement.About 10 days ago,Yedioth Ahronoth commentator Nahum Barnea revealed that Central Command Head Major General Yair Naveh had ordered the brigade commander to reprimand Shoshan for granting an interview without IDF permission .It was also revealed that Naveh had sent a letter to the Bentzi Lieberman, the head of the Yesha council in which he apologized for soldiers’ conduct.“In my opinion, the settlement and settlers (of Yitzhar) have been given a bad reputation. The central command will continue to embrace settlers and regard them as pioneers who set up their homes in Judea and Samaria,” Naveh wrote.—-Naveh said in regard to Hazut’s accusations that it is important to differentiate between a group of law-breaking extremists, who will have to be dealt with, and the general population that should be embraced, particularly ahead of the disengagement plan.He said he does not regret sending the letter but is sorry he didn’t send a copy to the settlers of Yitzhar as well.
I do not deny that there are some people willing to take things too far. Israelis should not be making things tough for our soldiers, whose job it is to carry out orders. Sure, I oppose disengagement, but I also oppose physical resistance, as well as forms of more passive resistance which inconvenience the general population. It is extremely important that we remain united as a people, since our foes would like nothing more than for us to fight each other.
Having said that, I am extremely angered by the campaign of disinformation aimed at all residents of communities in the disputed territories. I happen to know many of these fine people, and they would certainly oppose any actions that would compromise the safety of our soldiers. However, thanks to the misguided statements and actions of a few of them, whole communities are being demonized, in an attempt to gain political leverage for the disengagement plan. And this demonization campaign is getting nastier with these latest comments by Hazut, who has the gaul to make them sound worse than PLO Arab terrorists.
