Army dismisses soldiers over failures during March terror attack

The IDF says it has completed an internal probe into a deadly West Bank terror attack in March that left a rabbi and a soldier dead, and has found military forces at the scene of the Ariel junction attack failed to respond properly to events.

Several combat soldiers involved in the incident have been dismissed, and their battalion commander has been reprimanded.

The army does not detail how the soldiers failed in their duty.

IDF soldiers near the scene of a shooting attack near the northern West Bank Ariel Junction on March 17, 2019. (IDF)

On March 17, Omar Abu Laila fatally stabbed Sgt. Gal Keidan at the Ariel junction, grabbed the soldier’s gun and opened fire at passing vehicles, hitting Rabbi Ettinger, who later died of his wounds. The terrorist stole a vehicle and fled the scene, later shooting another soldier. He was killed during an attempt to arrest him days later.