IDF general warns: Dealing with 'rioters' in Judea & Samaria harms counterterror operations - report
IDF Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, responsible for the Judea and Samaria region, warned that the increasing activities of radical settler activists are distracting the military from anti-terror operations, Channel 13 News reported Sunday.
Against the background of recent, days-long operations to evacuate an illegal outpost in the village of Qusra, Central Command chief Bluth said in a recent special security discussion that “dealing with a bunch of rioters in Judea and Samaria prevents us from thwarting terrorism at a higher level,” according to the report.
“Dealing with this group causes us to divert some of the resources intended for the war on terror,” he noted. “Dealing with them prevents us from reaching a higher level of counterterrorism.”
“Preventing escalation in Judea and Samaria is currently a top security interest, and so is strengthening the settlements,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said at the same meeting.
“We want to focus the existing order of battle on fighting Palestinian terrorism. Unfortunately, the forces on the ground are being drawn into dealing with incidents of nationalist crime. This is a minority that does not represent the settlement movement, but a minority that draws too much attention instead of dealing with thwarting terrorism.”
