IDF chief: Attacks by settlers on Palestinians, soliders are ‘morally and ethically unacceptable’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and soldiers in the West Bank are “morally and ethically unacceptable” and cause “extraordinary strategic damage” to the military.

“Recently, there has been an increase in nationalist crime incidents, some of which are aimed directly against our soldiers and toward the civilian population,” Zamir says during a visit to the Central Command today.

“It is unacceptable that during a multi-front war, the IDF is forced to also contend with a threatening minority from within,” he says, according to remarks provided by the IDF.

Zamir calls the assailants “rioters who do not represent the settlements.”

“On the contrary, they endanger the settlements, security, stability, and our values as a people and as a state,” he says.

“I call on all authorities in the country to stand against this phenomenon and uproot it before it is too late. Anyone who thinks these actions help security is mistaken; they are morally and ethically unacceptable, and they create extraordinary strategic damage to the IDF’s efforts,” he adds.