An investigation ordered by General Headquarters Staff into allegations of large scale harassment of Arabs by Israeli soldiers in the administered territories has uncovered only a few isolated cases of irregularities, Israel Defense Force sources said today.
They said the few cases — far fewer than indicated by the media — had been dealt with by the commanding officers of the men involved or, in some cases, by the military police. The sources emphasized that these represented only a tiny fraction of the soldiers stationed in the territories.
Most of the allegations investigated proved unfounded and were apparently intended to poison the atmosphere in the territories and hamper the IDF’s mission there, the sources said. They said the mission was to prevent terrorist acts and stressed it was being carried out with strict respect for the feelings of the local residents.
According to the sources, the Chief of Staff, Gen. Moshe Levy, has made it clear to his troops that the maintenance of normal life in the area was important from a security point of view.
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