Report: Ben Gvir claims army has orders to ignore rock throwing; IDF chief says it’s not true

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi dismissed claims by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir that the military has orders not to respond to Palestinian rock throwers in the West Bank, according to leaked comments from a security cabinet meeting reported by the Ynet news site.

“I feel that there is abandonment in the West Bank. Officers are telling me that there is a policy — mainly when forces are traveling through cities, and [Palestinians] throw rocks and Molotov cocktails at them — for soldiers not to respond,” Ben Gvir reportedly said at the meeting. “How can there be an order like this?”

“There’s an order like that? Who told you? Officers? Their commander is sitting in front of you,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, according to the report, referring to Halevi.

“On the matter of the West Bank, any time there is suspected terror activity or rioting, we act. There is no order not to take care of rioting incidents. Nobody in the IDF accepts incidents like that. We have rules of engagement — it serves us for everything we need in an excellent way,” Halevi responded, according to the report, adding that wherever there is an incident where Israelis are traveling, troops are instructed to respond.