IDF officer: Balata easier than Hebron

Paratrooper commander in Hebron says serving in Palestinian refugee camp was easier than dealing with settlers in Hebron; Defense minister, chief of staff tour Judea Brigade ahead of evacuations
Hanan Greenberg

As the army prepares to clear the Amona outpost and illegally occupied buildings in Hebron, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Chief of Staff Dan Halutz visited the Judea Brigade, and closely examined the IDF's activity in the region, as well as plans for the future.

"We are in the midst of a very complex operation with mixed emotions, in a manner that is new to us," the commander of Paratrooper Battalion 101 Lieutenant Colonel Eliezer Toledano told Mofaz. "Sometimes we have to deal with things we don't want to deal with," he added.

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Toledano told his top ranking guests that after six months of guarding Jewish settlements, he felt that "it was easier for us to enter the Palestinian refugee camp in Balata and carry out the operations we were used to, but the battalion knows how to carry out operations like every other unit in the army, and it can adapt to the new mission. The complexity here requires adaptation and a learning curb."

Soldiers of Battalion 101 have only been in the area for a month, and their commander did not attempt to hide the fact that dealing with Jewish residents required different kinds of operations. "We want to busy ourselves with defense only here, but learning is necessary. We will carry out every mission with the same determination and with the same IDF spirit, but don't plan on compromising on our honor," he said.

'No one has the right to raise a hand against you'

Chief of Staff Halutz said in response: "No one has the right to raise a hand against you. Don't give up the right to protect your honor. There must be no tolerance towards masked protesters. We can't allow law violators to go break the law and do whatever they want."

"Anyone who raises a hand or tries to harm your honor must be met with zero tolerance," said Halutz.

During conversations with soldiers, Halutz said that Israel was not interfering with the Palestinian elections. "We have no reason to interfere with the elections, and anyone who says otherwise is trying to attack the State of Israel and the security services," he said.

Halutz added that Hamas was "an organization of terror, terror, terror, and that is how we relate to it."