Beit Aryeh sceurity officer faces hearing after altercation with border police

Beit Aryeh sceurity offi

By YAAKOV KATZ, TOVAH LAZAROFF
IDF sources said that Beit Aryeh security officer Bnaya Sharavi would appear before the local IDF regional brigade commander for a disciplinary hearing for attempting to thwart civil administration inspectors from entering his community on December 2. Sharavi was injured in the leg by border police as he tried to assist the head of the Beit Aryeh and Ofarim Council who had been carted away by police during a protest. The commander will decide if the security officer will remain in his post or will be fired. Most settlement security officers receive salaries, weapons and armored jeeps from the Defense Ministry. The IDF decided to confiscate the Beit Aryeh security officer's jeep after he allegedly used it to block security forces and civil administration inspectors who came to the settlement to issue an order forbidding new construction. The military sources said they did not believe that settlement security officers in the West Bank would try to prevent the distribution of the orders, and that if they did, they would be dealt with accordingly. "The Beit Aryeh incident was an isolated case so far," one IDF officer said. "If this spreads to other places, we will know how to deal with them as needed." Shlomo Vaknin, who is in charge of security for the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, said he did not believe that security officers in the settlements would be involved in protest activities related to the freeze. He said that he himself was staying away from protests in fear that it would jeopardize his position. It's important, he said, that security officers retain their close working ties with the IDF, even in this tense period. Protest activity against the 10-month moratorium on new construction should be left to the council leaders and residents. Security officers should refrain from such activity and focus on ensuring the safety of the residents of Judea and Samaria, he said.