IDF gets new commander in flashpoint Hebron area

Col. Itzik Cohen takes over for Col. Yariv Ben-Ezra as head of the IDF’s Judea Brigade, which is responsible for the Hebron area.

In a ceremony outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Ben-Ezra steps down from the position that he has held for two years.

“Yariv, your tenure has had constant challenges: the kidnapping of the three teens — Gilad [Shaer], Eyal [Yifrah] and Naftali [Fraenkel], may their memories be blessed — which took place soon after you entered your position, and immediately afterward there was Operation Brother’s Keeper and then Operation Protective Edge,” Brig. Gen. Lior Carmeli says at the ceremony, referring to two military operations that took place in the summer of 2014 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, respectively.

“You knew how to strike the right balance with professionalism, honesty, sensitivity and with the large scope that is required in a complicated reality,” he says.

“Unfortunately, even in the last week in the position we have experienced difficult terror attacks in which Hallel Ariel and Miki Mark were murdered,” Carmeli adds.

Cohen, who is entering the position, notes the difficulty he will face, but says he is “proud” to receive the responsibility.

In the span of just a few days, Hebron and the surrounding area saw a spate of attacks that left two dead and several injured. In response, the army put a closure on the city — the most populous in the West Bank — in a bid to return calm to the area.

— Judah Ari Gross