Gantz says officer who killed mentally ill gun-snatcher acted correctly

Defense Minister Benny Gantz says a military officer who shot and killed a man who stole a soldier’s gun acted correctly, but calls the incident a tragedy.

“There was a tragic incident in which the Binyamin Brigade commander thought he was in a terror attack and in the end it turned out to be a tragedy. Because a gun was stolen, he acted correctly by intervening,” he says in comments provided by his office.

The man who stole the gun was an Israeli Jew with mental health issues.

Gantz connects the incident to an increase in tensions, but says troops will continue to be deployed inside Israel to be able to quickly respond to terror activity.

“We want there to be as many forces on the ground so that if we don’t manage to stop an attack, we can at least apprehend the attacker as quickly as possible,” he says, in comments sent out by his office.

Gantz says forces in the West Bank and seam zone between the security barrier and actual Green Line have been bolstered considerably and will stay that way.