IDF briefs settler leaders on added security measures

“This is a part of the connection between the command head and the heads of settlement communities. It is a standard meeting held once every few months, and it reinforces the connection between us.”

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: JANUARY 15, 2016 05:20
Efrat settlement, West Bank (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Efrat settlement, West Bank
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
A routine meeting held between settlement community leaders and the IDF was held at Central Command on Thursday, in which OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Roni Numeh presented recent IDF activities and assessments.
The meeting, held at command headquarters in Jerusalem, was described by army sources as positive. Numeh told representatives of Judea and Samaria communities that the army has placed barricades at hitchhiking posts, deployed more units to roads, and increased street lighting in dark areas.
Numeh also presented the IDF’s security assessment, a description of recent security incidents and what security forces are doing to disrupt and thwart future terrorist attacks.
An army source said, “This is a part of the connection between the command head and the heads of settlement communities. It is a standard meeting held once every few months, and it reinforces the connection between us.”
According to Yigal Dilmoni, the deputy head of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria, the IDF presented a new multi-year plan to improve security for the residents of Judea and Samaria.
The plan includes upgrading the vehicles used by security teams in the settlements and providing a higher grade of flak jackets. An additional 70 buses, including those used to transport school children, will be protected against gun fire, Dilmoni said.
Improvements will be made to the protective fences around the settlements and additional cellular towers will be placed in the West Bank to expand the range of wireless services, Dilmoni said.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.