Report: IDF chief of staff warns settler violence could hamstring army's operational capacity
“Unless this is dealt with, it could interfere with everything. We are in a critical period in Gaza and Lebanon and our focus should be there"
IDF Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir is concerned that should the settler violence in the West Bank continue unabated, the Israeli military's capacity to respond to security threats arising in the Gazan, Syrian and Lebanese arenas could be seriously undermined, the Hebrew-language Channel 12 reported Friday.
“Those anarchists could set the region aflame in a moment, triggering a situation in which all forces would have to be sprung in short order from the Gazan and Lebanese frontiers to the Judea and Samaria area,” he is quoted as saying. “Unless this is dealt with, it could interfere with everything. We are in a critical period in Gaza and Lebanon and our focus should be there.”
On Friday the Israeli military said that soldiers responded to reports of Israeli civilians hurling rocks toward Palestinian vehicles and setting fire to property in the Huwara area.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would meet with cabinet ministers to ensure that Israelis involved in attacks on Palestinians are brought to justice, calling those responsible a "small, extremist group."
"I call on the law enforcement authorities to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law," he further added. "I intend to deal with this personally, and convene the relevant ministers as soon as possible to address this serious phenomenon."