Settlement leaders back West Bank commander after attempted ouster, set to meet Katz

Settlement leaders strongly criticize Defense Minister Israel Katz after he announced in a live TV interview that he intended to replace IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth over the top general’s decision to renew an administrative restraining order against an extremist settler.

While criticized by some on the far right for acting against settler violence, Bluth has also earned plaudits on the right for his support of settlement expansion, including backing the creation of wildcat outposts and ranches.

“It’s an absolute disgrace that the defense minister fires the head of Central Command who has established 104 settlements,” says the mayor of the settlement of Beit El, Shai Alon.

The current government has formally approved the establishment and retroactive legalization of 104 settlements, while the IDF’s Central Command under Bluth’s leadership has reportedly helped coordinate the establishment of dozens of illegal settlement outposts across the West Bank.

Katz’s announcement on Bluth, which was rejected by the IDF, was widely seen as a play for support from members of the far right set to vote in Likud primaries on August 17.

“Minister Katz, if you’re missing a few votes in the primaries, tell me and I’ll get them for you,” adds Alon, in reference to the upcoming Likud primaries in which Katz is running.

The Yesha Council, an umbrella body representing municipal settlement authorities in the West Bank, also expresses public support for Bluth, saying his offensive military tactics in the territory have been successful in tackling terrorism, and praising his actions in “developing settlement in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.”

The Yesha Council says that the heads of settlement municipal authorities will be meeting with Katz this afternoon.

Speaking to Kan radio, Yesha chairman Yisrael Ganz tempers the criticism of Katz, even as he backs Bluth.

Ganz says that there is a “consensus” among heads of settlement municipal authorities that Bluth is “the best head of Central Command ever,” but adds that Katz is also “the best defense minister ever.”

Katz, like Bluth, has worked to expand the establishment of illegal settlement outposts around the West Bank, and both of them have praised illegal farming outposts for taking control over large swaths of land in the territory, claiming they add to the country’s security.

Civil rights groups note that the outposts are frequently the source of extreme violence and harassment against local Palestinians.