Dramatic reductions to IDF troops in Judea and Samaria will put communities at risk, MK Sukkot warns'

The IDF plans to significantly reduce the number of its troops deployed in Judea and Samaria, according to a report in Ynet News on Thursday. 

Following the outbreak of the Oct. 7 war with Gaza, the military strongly reinforced its presence throughout Judea and Samaria to protect Jewish communities and settlements there from facing a similar threat to the one faced by the Gaza Envelope communities two years ago. 

The deployment of additional forces in Judea and Samaria, often made up of reserve troops, has varied over the past two years, in accordance with warnings from the security sector. 

Now, however, Ynet reports that the IDF is giving serious consideration to drawing down the forces in the territories, as the war appears to be ending, and the need for reserve troops to handle the security situation in Judea and Samaria decreases. 

According to the Ynet report, the IDF expects that each community’s emergency security squads will assume part of the responsibility of safeguarding their own areas. While a final decision in the matter has not yet been announced, the news caused concern among some Israeli politicians.  

MK Zvi Sukkot, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for Judea and Samaria Affairs, wrote a letter to the Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir expressing concern over the planned reduction of forces. 

Sukkot warned Zamir that, in his opinion, the move could create serious security gaps in the communities at a time when security threats are increasing. 

“To the best of my knowledge, a directive was recently received to reduce the number of regional defense forces in the Judea and Samaria region by about 30 percent in the coming weeks, with the intention of eventually bringing about a complete cessation of their activities,” Sukkot reportedly wrote to Zamir. 

The Knesset member said that decreasing the security forces without restoring the former long-term presence of IDF troops in the area would leave “significant gaps” between the protection needs “on the ground, as indicated by the settlement's defense files, and the current order of defense allocated by the IDF.”  

Sukkot also warned that expecting the communities to rely solely on their emergency security squads is an unfeasible scenario. He noted that smaller communities would not be able to support the cost of the needed security equipment and training. 

“It is unacceptable to suddenly impose such high payments on the citizens of the state for their personal security, when this is the basic responsibility of the state,” Sukkot wrote. 

In response, the IDF stated that, “In recent days, situation assessments have been taking place regarding the deployment of the order of forces. When decisions are made, the units and service members will be updated in an orderly manner.” 

“Regardless of the decision, it should be noted that in the communities in the Judea and Samaria region, there are equipped and trained alert units and the defense elements in the communities have been improved,” the statement continued. “This is alongside combat forces that are deployed in the region.”