Jordan Valley troops prepare for W. Bank violence

The IDF's Jordan Valley Brigade trains hard to prep soldiers for a possible escalation of violence in the West Bank.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
IDF Drill 370 (photo credit: IDF Spokeperson's Office)
IDF Drill 370
(photo credit: IDF Spokeperson's Office)
The IDF’s Jordan Valley Regional Brigade completed in recent days a monthlong training program designed to prepare soldiers for an escalation of Palestinian violence in the West Bank.
Within the framework of the training exercises, reserve units were rapidly called up from their homes and deployed to positions in the valley.
The soldiers trained responses to scenarios such as sniper fire on Route 90 – which runs across the Jordan Valley – and to other forms of terrorist attacks.
Non-reserve soldiers stationed in the area also participated.
In one of the drills, some soldiers lay in a café pretending to be dead or wounded, while others played rioters, blocking roads and setting tires alight.
“We must make sure we are prepared,” an army source told The Jerusalem Post last week . “This type of large-scale field exercise hasn’t happened for 16 years,” the source said.
The drill was planned six months ago, he added.
The exercise was overseen by the Jordan Valley Regional Brigade’s commander, Col. Yaron Beit-On. “We are drilling every issue to reach a level of skill and readiness that, should we need it, will ensure we’ll know how to act in the most efficient way possible,” the colonel remarked.
The Jordan Valley Regional Brigade is responsible for the longest territory in the country – a length of 200 kilometers – which begins south of Beit She’an and ends near Ein Gedi, at the Dead Sea.
Other scenarios simulated included infiltrations of Israeli communities, mass-casualty incidents, and attempts by terrorists to breach the West Bank security barrier.