The Israel Defense Force moved Sunday to head off vigilantism and reprisals by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, furious over the deteriorating security situation.
Maj. Gen. Amram Mitzna, commander of the central sector, held meetings for most of the day with settler representatives, who vented their anger and frustration over the IDF’s failure to heed their demands for “improved security measures.”
But by the end of the day, the settlers and the military agreed “the talks had been good.”
In the meantime, a group of settlers, together with two Knesset supporters, Geula Cohen of Tehiya and Michael Eitan of Likud, cornered the Arab mayor of Kalkilya, Abdul Rahman Abu-Sneineh, in his office Sunday.
They demanded that he and other local Arab leaders take measures to end attacks on Jewish vehicles.
If not, they hinted, they could expect the settlers to react in their own way.
But Abu-Sneineh was the wrong party to approach. Appointed to office by the Israeli military government, he is seen by the towns-people as Israel’s “puppet” and his influence with local trouble-makers is nil.
He told his visitors he could do nothing for them. The interview ended when IDF officers ordered the settlers to leave the mayor’s office.
The problem of Jewish reprisals was also discussed by the Cabinet Sunday.
Minister of Labor Mordechai Gur, a Laborite, said settlers who complain against the IDF and take matters into their own hands “are weakening Israel.”
Only scattered disturbances were reported in the territories Sunday. There was a clash in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip where soldiers wounded one Arab.
Two gasoline bombs were thrown at a military camp near the Neveh Ya’acov neighborhood in northern Jerusalem.
They ignited on the perimeter fence but caused no casualties or damage.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
