Gallant thanks settler mayors for ‘complete support’ amid attacks on IDF brass
But defense minister also reportedly urges local leaders not to criticize senior officers; troops launch manhunt for Palestinian who opened fire at settlers, causing no injuries
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday morning held meetings with top military commanders and settler leaders at the Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem, following a series of deadly terror attacks in the West Bank.
According to his office, Gallant was briefed by senior IDF officers on the ongoing search for the Palestinian terrorist who killed an Israeli father and son at a carwash in Huwara over the weekend and instructed the officers to increase the military’s focus on gathering illegal firearms.
The meeting also came following a deadly terror attack near Hebron on Monday, in which 42-year-old Batsheva Nigri was killed, and Aryeh Leib Gottlieb, a father of six in his 40s, was seriously wounded. Nigri’s 12-year-old daughter was in the vehicle at the time of the attack and emerged unharmed. The two suspected terrorists were arrested a day later.
Participating in the meeting were Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amir Baram; IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox; the military’s liaison to the Palestinians, Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian; the head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Fares Atila; and other senior Central Command officers.
The statement added that during his meeting later with settlement mayors, Gallant thanked them for their “complete support” for security forces, which have been blamed by some settlers and far-right lawmakers for recent attacks.
“This is of critical importance for the residents and soldiers,” he was quoted as saying by his office.
According to Army Radio, some of the settlement leaders said in the meeting that they should be allowed to criticize Central Command officers amid the rise in terror attacks, while other mayors, and Gallant, said that the military should be left to make its own decisions.
“Don’t attack the military officials, attack me,” the defense minister said in the meeting, according to the report.
In response to the two recent terror attacks, right-wing settler activists launched a new social media campaign calling on the government to dismiss Fox, the regional commander.
A poster circulating online called to “fire Fox immediately,” with a picture of the general surrounded by 24 recent terror victims.
Activists have held Fox responsible for the recent wave of terror attacks, accusing him of not cracking down on Palestinians. The criticism has also been echoed in recent days by several right-wing politicians in the coalition.
Responding to the campaign and criticism by lawmakers, Fox told reporters on Monday that he was not taking it personally. “I’ve been a public servant for 35 years, and I will continue to be as long as I believe I can handle the challenges and provide security for the citizens of Israel, for everyone — even for those who do not like [me],” Fox said.
Heads of the IDF’s Central Command have repeatedly come under fire by some settler groups over the years for what they felt was insufficient action against security threats or egregious action against illegal Jewish settlements.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the IDF launched a manhunt for a suspected Palestinian gunman who allegedly opened fire at settlers in the northern West Bank.
Shortly before noon, settlers at the Dorot Illit Farm, located near the settlement of Karnei Shomron and the Palestinian town of Biddya, reported that a masked Palestinian opened fire at them.
The Israelis were unharmed, and the gunman fled the scene.
The IDF said that upon receiving the report, troops began to search the area for the suspect.
Violence has surged across the West Bank over the past year and a half, with a rise in Palestinian shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and troops, near-nightly arrest raids by the military, and an uptick in revenge attacks by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians. Most of the violence has taken place in the northern West Bank, while Hebron, in the south, has been more quiet.
Since the beginning of the year, some 1,560 wanted Palestinians have been detained by Israeli troops, and 750 illegal firearms have been seized, according to fresh statistics from the Israel Defense Forces released late Tuesday.
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have left 29 people dead and several others seriously wounded since the beginning of the year, including in Monday’s shooting near Hebron.
According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 174 West Bank Palestinians have also been killed during the same period — most of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances, including by armed Israeli settlers.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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