MKs: Police can't fight settler violence

Police dispute committee's perception of forces as beleaguered; incidents mushroom in recent weeks.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
hebron settler 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
hebron settler 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Only five police cars are in service in the whole of Judea and Samaria, the Knesset's Internal Affairs Committee claimed on Tuesday. Committee chairman Ophir Paz-Pines pleaded with police commissioner Insp.-Gen. Dudi Cohen to increase funding to what he described as a beleaguered force struggling to cope with a rising tide of settler violence. Police said the figure was inaccurate, adding that at least 18 police vehicles serve the district during every shift. In a letter sent by Paz-Pines to Cohen, a copy of which was also sent to Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, Pines-Paz lamented the lack of resources available to the force, citing a small budget and shortage in manpower, as well as a "lack of means for carrying out law enforcement duties in Judea and Samaria. "As an example, we learned that only five police cars operate in Judea and Samaria," Pines-Paz added. "I am asking you to change things around in light of the difficult and dangerous reality in the area." Cohen has been asked by the committee to provide "accurate figures" regarding the district's budget and available resources, and to explain how he intends to allocate the missing tools to officers on the ground. Responding to the letter, police sources questioned the sorry state of the force which emerges from the text, and said the Judea and Samaria district had "at least" 18 police vehicles its disposal. Territorially, the Judea and Samara district is the second largest police district in the country, with 1,100 officers serving in it. The sources added that resources and manpower were a problem throughout the police force, but that the Judea and Samaria police had actually gotten a boost in recent months. "The Judea and Samaria police district have been allocated new headquarters in the E1 region [between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim], more resources, vehicles, and more technological tools. "This is not the picture of the district that we have. Several stations dot the district," a police spokesman added. "If anything, the district has undergone an upgrade." Meanwhile, Judea and Samaria police have recorded a spike in assaults by settlers in September. Police partly blame the escalation on the new "price tag" policy of violent response to every clearance of an illegal outpost by security forces. Incidents of assaults on Palestinians, police officers, and left-wing activists, as well as arson attacks have mushroomed in recent weeks. The official figures will be released after Succot. Figures presented to the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee last week show that 407 new police files for public disturbances were opened in the Judea and Samaria district since the start of the year. Thirty-six cases were opened against left-wing activists, while the remainder - 90% - were opened against right-wingers. There has also been an increase of 74% in the number of indictments served for public disorder offenses - 82 indictments have been served, compared to 47 last year. In September, an angry mob from Yitzhar entered a nearby Palestinian village after a Palestinian man stabbed a nine year-old boy in the settlement. The mob fired in the air, damaged property and wounded six Palestinians. Days later, settlers damaged Palestinian property in the West Bank as a response to an IDF evacuation of the Yad Yair outpost in Samaria. Last week, right-wing leader Daniella Weiss was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer, interfering with a police investigation and hindering a police officer in the performance of his duty. She was arrested Thursday after officers came to her home while pursuing men they suspected had been involved in setting fire to a Palestinian field near Kedumim in Samaria. According to police, Weiss attacked officers who were examining a vehicle parked outside her home, believed to have driven by the suspected arsonists.