IDF’s top West Bank general said to warn PM settler violence could spark major rise in Palestinian terror

Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the most senior IDF officer in the West Bank, warned during a closed-door security assessment today that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory, Channel 12 reports.

“There has been a significant decline in the scale of [Palestinian] terrorism over the past two years, but there is one match that could ignite everything in an instant – nationalist crime,” Bluth is quoted as telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.

“The IDF’s attention is constantly being diverted to such incidents instead of thwarting Palestinian terrorism,” he reportedly added.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu then asked IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir what the military would do if the West Bank erupted and what plan it had in place.

“We did not come prepared to present that at this meeting,” Zamir reportedly replied.

Defense officials cited by the network stress that the IDF does have a contingency plan, but say the meeting was convened at short notice and was expected to focus specifically on settler violence, leaving Zamir without the asked-for presentation and details on how the IDF would deal with a drastic escalation in Palestinian West Bank terrorism.

This is at least the second time in recent days that IDF brass have warned that the surge of near-daily settler attacks — which are rarely prosecuted — could lead to an outbreak of Palestinian terrorism.