Cache of spikes, tools to attack security forces found at W. Bank settlement, police say

Police also find saws, pepper spray, flammable material, ingredients for paint bombs, gloves and black face masks at Yitzhar settlement.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Israel Police logo (photo credit: Courtesy)
Israel Police logo
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Lahav 433 – The National Crime Unit on Wednesday found a large cache of tools in the settlement of Yitzhar that they believe were stored to be used against security forces and Palestinians.
Among the items police found in their pre-dawn raid were tools to puncture tires, such as knives and spikes known as ninjas.
They also found saws, pepper spray, flammable material, ingredients for paint bombs, gloves and black face masks.
While in Yitzhar the police issued a restraining order against a minor whom they ordered to stay away from the settlement for four months.
Yitzhar spokesman Ezri Tovi dismissed the police report, adding that the minor was not from his community.
“What did they find that justified raiding the settlement in the middle of the night?” Tovi asked.
What after all did they find, garden pipes, empty bulbs and some gloves, he said, although he did say that the pepper spray was illegal.
“The police should invest their resources in [combating] real crimes and more serious crimes both within their own ranks and throughout the rest of the country,” Tovi said.
In April of last year a number of high publicized clashes between settlers and security forces took place in Yitzhar. In some of those incidents settlers slashed the tires of security vehicles.
In response, the IDF took the unprecedented step of commandeering the Od Yosef Hai yeshiva building located in Yitzhar. It closed it off to the rabbis and students and is using it to house a Border Police battalion.
In May of last year, at the request of the Yitzhar secretariat, residents voted to oppose violence against security forces within and around their community.