Defense Ministry body: IDF ‘ignoring’ settler violence against soldiers

In an internal letter revealed today, a Defense Ministry official slams the IDF for its approach to violence coming from residents of the Yitzhar settlement and the surrounding outposts in the northern West Bank.

“We cannot continue treating Yitzhar with a double standard: promoting civilian issues, examining unique requests from residents, and finding creative solutions to their problems alongside the continued violation of the rule of law by the residents,” writes an officer in the Civil Administration, which governs daily affairs in Israel-controlled Area C of the West Bank — in a letter published by the Kan public broadcaster.

In her letter to Civil Administration head Achvat Ben Hoor, the officer — later identified by The Times of Israel as Idit Zargarian — goes on to say that it is “inconceivable that the most senior IDF officials seek and assist in the development of the settlement, while blatantly ignoring the actions of [Yitzhar] residents and the residents of the surrounding outposts, which have included attacks on security forces.”

— Jacob Magid