Retiring top IDF official slams settler extremists

Gen. Avi Mizrahi calls for movement to rein in Hilltop Youth during swearing-in ceremony of his successor

Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi (center) at the Neveh Shmuel Yeshiva in Efrat (photo credit: Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi (center) at the Neveh Shmuel Yeshiva in Efrat (photo credit: Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

The outgoing head of IDF Central Command praised the settler movement on Sunday for their role in Israeli society but asked them to rein in the extremists within their camp.

Gen. Avi Mizrahi served as head of Central Command, the IDF regional command that includes the West Bank, for three years.

“The ‘Hilltop Youth’ [a loose group of young radical settlers] are outside the law and perform acts of terrorism against the Palestinians,” Mizrahi was quoted as saying in Maariv. “This small minority can do damage when the silent majority are in tow. Don’t let them drag us all to the brink.”

Mizrahi made his remarks as he was stepping down from his post in order to earn an advanced degree in the US. His successor, Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, is the former commander of the Judea and Samaria Division. He too is viewed as being critical of right-wing extremists among the Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

 

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