Reservist who fired in the air near West Bank olive harvesters dismissed from duty

An IDF reservist member of the emergency response team in the settlement of Revava in the West Bank was dismissed from reserve service after firing into the air last Tuesday near Palestinians and Israeli activists harvesting olives near the village of Deir Istiya, The Times of Israel has learned.

During the same incident, a drone apparently operated by the settlement team struck and injured an Israeli activist. Later, as a confrontation broke out between the harvesters and two reservists from Revava’s response unit who arrived at the scene, one of the soldiers fired into the air. The second soldier involved received a reprimand.

The disciplinary measures were taken following an investigation that found the troops had acted irresponsibly and disproportionately to the level of threat.