Itongadol.- The IDF executed policy earlier this month after their jeep was vandalized in Yitzhar settlement; in response the IDF razed four illegal structures.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has prioritized the demolition of illegal homes in West Bank Jewish communities whose members commit acts of violence against security forces, according a senior security source.
Ya’alon first explained this new policy to settler leaders during a day-long IDF seminar in February. He repeated it in a meeting he held with them before Passover, according to Yigal Delmoni, deputy director of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
News of the new policy was relayed to settler leaders verbally but not in writing, Delmoni said. Army radio first reported on it on Wednesday morning and a senior security source confirmed the matter for The Jerusalem Post.
The IDF executed this policy earlier this month after their jeep was vandalized in the Yitzhar settlement. In response the IDF razed four illegal structures in the settlement. Violent clashes between settlers and the IDF broke out during the demolitions. A group of 50 or 60 settlers than destroyed an army post in Yitzhar that housed reservist settlers. In response the IDF took over the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in Yitzhar and has posted Border Police there.
Legal Forum for the Land of Israel Direction General Nachi Eyal accused Ya’alon and the IDF of “collectively punishing” Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
“Would it occur to anyone to increase law enforcement in the city of Ra’ana in response to the murder that occurred there last week,” Eyal asked.