Israel Matzav

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee blasts IDF open fire rules, Chief of Staff won't change them

Coalition members in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee demanded that IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz relax the open fire rules so that IDF soldiers won't have to flee riots. But the IDF chief refused to make any changes.

The rules for opening fire in the West Bank will not be made less stringent, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday.

"I get the impression from conversations with people in the field that the spirit of command is that when there's a conflict, it's better to run away," committee chairman Avigdor Liberman (Likud Beytenu), who lives in the West Bank, said. "This is a difficult feeling, but it's the reality."

MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud Beytenu) expressed concerns that soldiers are left defenseless when facing Palestinian rioters.

"The whole world and citizens of Israel are exposed to photos of IDF soldiers stand helplessly facing rioting and attacks by Palestinians, and the IDF must give them the tools to deal with such situations," Rivlin stated.

Seeing soldiers retreating when attacked by rioters requires the IDF to rethink its regulations, Rivlin added, because the current situation incites further violence.

"No one in the Knesset wants there to be a change of instructions that will lead to the unjust loss of many lives, not only from a moral standpoint, but because it can lead to an escalation," Gantz responded.

Soldiers are instructed to be determined, but not to pull the trigger, because doing so would be against Israeli interests, Gantz said.

And so the IDF will continue to fight with its hands tied behind its back and to be sitting ducks for 'Palestinian' terrorists. And that leads to stories like this one.

What could go wrong?

Labels: IDF, open fire rules

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:31 PM