Israel Matzav

IDF soldiers overwhelmed by 'Palestinians' outside Neve Tzuf

Afraid to use their weapons for fear of being punished, an IDF reserve unit outside the Jewish town of Neve Tzuf in Samaria fought some 100 'Palestinian youths' with their bare hands on Friday until a border police unit with teargas grenades came along to disperse the riot (Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs). Note the 'youth' in the background videotaping. That's why the soldiers are afraid.

Leftist groups have distributed cameras among Arabs and they regularly stage confrontations in the hope of catching IDF violence on camera. The presence of the cameras is also meant to cause IDF soldiers to refrain from using force, for fear of prosecution by the media and legal system.

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The soldiers are obviously reservists and not the professional “riot-busters” that the IDF, Border Police and civilian police use for controlling violent crowds when they wish to strike fear into the hearts of demonstrators. According to Lt-Col (res) Itzik Shadmi of the grassroots Samaria Residents' Council, these only arrived after 90 minutes of a tug-of-war between the soldiers and the rioters, and ended the disturbance swiftly.

Shadmi noted that while the Arabs outnumbered the soldiers -- with about 100 rioters facing about 30 soldiers -- the IDF force was company-sized and is considered to be enough for conquering an entire village, if it only uses its fire power. However, the reservists did not even use their riot dispersal gear.

Peter Lerner of the IDF Spokesman's Unit said in response, “There was a disturbance of the peace at Nevei Tzuf, which included confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians. The forces that arrived on the scene used riot dispersal gear – mostly tear gas. Before forces go into action in Central Command, they are trained in facing the different threats that the Command deals with, including riots. If there was a problem of lack of motivation in this incident, it will be dealt with.”

I don't think the problem is lack of motivation. It's the ridiculous rules of engagement that almost guarantee you'll be disciplined - even for firing a weapon in the air.

There are several more pictures of Friday's event here. Simply disgraceful.

Neve Tzuf hits close to home by the way. My daughter and son-in-law and grandson visit there fairly often because my son-in-law has relatives there. Not good.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:24 PM