IDF’s West Bank chief says illegal farming settler outposts ‘greatly strengthen security’

The Israeli army general responsible for the West Bank says recently established illegal farming outposts “greatly strengthen security” in the territory.

Speaking at a conference yesterday organized by the so-called Farm Union, Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth says that the settlement farms “align well with the security concept. It does not contradict it.”

“It integrates with it, provided that this is also reflected in operational conduct, as well as ethical conduct, and in accordance with the law,” he says.

“All of this greatly strengthens security,” Bluth says.

“I have great faith in the people here. I look each and every one of you straight in the eye. I love you, I appreciate you, and I appreciate what you do,” he adds.

The left-wing Peace Now organization, which campaigns against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, says that some 120 illegal farming outposts have been established in the three-plus years since the government came to power.

Some of these farming outposts have become hotbeds for settler violence that terrorizes nearby Palestinian communities, as far-right activists use the agricultural communes to expand Israel’s grip over West Bank territory.

The outposts are frequently established on what is defined as state land but without cabinet authorization, meaning they are illegal under Israeli law.

However, government ministries have directly funded the farming outposts, providing them with security equipment and subsidies for raising livestock.

The government has been seeking to legalize the farming outposts.