PM, Gantz blast settler attack on IDF base
By JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 12/13/2011 20:49
Netanyahu vows to deal with perpetrators of "unprecedented disturbance" with a heavy hand.
PM Binyamin Netanyahu Photo: GPO
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz fiercely criticized Tuesday morning's settler violence
against IDF property and personnel, with the prime minister vowing to deal with the perpetrators with a heavy hand.
Netanyahu called the storming of an IDF base in the West Bank an "unprecedented" disruption, and promised to "find these rioters."
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Speaking at the Conference
for Alumni of the National Security Institute in Jerusalem, the prime
minister said he had submitted a plan to the cabinet for dealing with
the assailants.
"We will combine investigative teams in the IDF,
the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the police and we will conquer
this evil affliction," he said.
He said that the attack, together with Monday night's raid of an abandoned building along Israel's border with Jordan, were both severe events.
"These
are violent disturbances," said Gantz. "The IDF that defends its
people, found it had to defends itself against them. This is absurd
beyond belief and I hope the perpetrators will be put to justice and I
am convinced that the leaders and authorities will do everything
necessary to achieve this."
Earlier, OC Central Command Maj.-Gen.
Avi Mizrahi expressed shock at the violence , saying he had never seen
"such hatred directed by Jews towards soldiers" in his 30 years in
service.
"I served in the area, and I saw with my own eyes [activists] throwing rocks and attacking soldiers," Mizrahi said.
Mizrahi
also noted that the event was not spontaneous, and that it was a direct
reaction to the government mandate that the army clear illegally built
outposts in Judea and Samaria.
The settlers and right-wing
activists broke into the Efraim Regional Brigade Headquarters located
near the settlement of Kedumim early Tuesday morning.
They punctured the tires of nearby military vehicles and hurled rocks at
brigade commander Col. Ran Cahana as he drove nearby in his military
jeep. He was not injured.
The infiltrators were pushed out of the base by IDF troops and Israel Police forces alerted to the scene.
One
individual was arrested Tuesday morning for obstructing the entrance to
the base with stones, according to police. The suspect, a Beit El
resident born in 1991, resisted arrest.
The IDF said that it
would not stop carrying out its operations in the West Bank and that
"violence against soldiers would not deter it." The IDF said that it
expected rabbinic and settler leaders to condemn the incident.