Amid Qusra chaos, Katz asserts he will transfer civilian enforcement in West Bank from IDF to police

Defense Minister Israel Katz says he has instructed the IDF to formulate a plan that would see the transfer of civilian enforcement powers in the West Bank from the military to the Israel Police.

A statement from Katz’s office — amid ongoing clashes in the village of Qusra — says that the defense minister is looking into a plan that would see enforcement against Israelis committing crimes in the West Bank moved to the police, which will “prepare and establish a force suitable for dealing with and handling civil matters and be granted all the necessary powers and budgets.”

The statement adds that Katz issued the directive after a meeting yesterday with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior military officials.

The defense minister suggests that the military’s job is to counter terrorist activity and protect Israel’s borders, not “chase youth in the hilltops,” a characteristically dismissive approach to the rampant and deadly settler violence exploding in the West Bank.

Katz says tackling Israeli violence in the West Bank “is not the role” of the IDF “nor is it capable of handling the enforcement of civil issues” there, due to the “expected welcome increase in the number of settlers” in the wake of the current government’s approval of new West Bank settlements.

It was not immediately clear what impact such a measure would have on the ground, and it is highly unlikely that Katz would be able to carry out such a significant move in the lead-up to a national election.

Israel has never formally annexed the West Bank, therefore the IDF has been responsible for enforcement in the area. Such a move by Katz would appear to be yet another step toward annexation, something the current coalition has been pushing for but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stopped short of amid heavy international pressure.

In the current situation, the IDF can anyway only briefly detain Israeli citizens involved in criminal activity in the West Bank before handing them over to the Israel Police. Police then often release the settlers without charges, and only on rare occasions are Israelis charged in instances of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Critics have asserted that enforcement has dropped even lower after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — who has a long history of association with ultra-nationalists in the West Bank — took control of the ministry overseeing the Israel Police.