'We were abandoned to settlers' fury'
Central command officer backed settlers who attacked soldiers at Yitzhar; colonel levels scathing attack saying 'honor of IDF and police being sacrificed'
The conflict between some IDF officers and settlers is reaching a boiling point even months before the planned disengagement.
A top IDF officer told colleagues at an army conference that he is more afraid of Jewish settlers than Palestinians, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.
Lieutenant Colonel Guy Hazut said he feels his life is threatened in some Jewish settlements.
"I am not afraid to enter a Palestinian village as much I am afraid to enter Yitzhar," Hazut told the army audience. "I feel my life is threatened there. A moment longer and I would have been lynched. Yitzhar has a group of lawbreakers. The police and IDF's honor is being sacraficed."
Hazut's comments included an attack on IDF Central Command Head Major General Yair Naveh who criticized the company commander who attacked Yitzhar settlers after he and his soldiers were provoked by them, Yedioth reported.
The remarks were made at a conference attended by IDF officers of all ranks that convened to discuss the Gaza disengagement plan.
About three weeks ago, Captain Maor Shoshan, who had served until recently as the company commander securing the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank, was quoted as saying that he and his soldiers had undergone a series of humiliations by settlers.
He exposed how settlers had cut off the soldiers' water supply, threw stones and threatened a soldier with a weapon. Amid the mounting tension it was decided to withdraw IDF troops from the settlement.
'We have been abandoned'
About 10 days ago,Yedioth Ahronoth commentator Nahum Barnea revealed that Central Command Head Major General Yair Naveh had ordered the brigade commander to reprimand Shoshan for granting an interview without IDF permission .
It was also revealed that Naveh had sent a letter to the Bentzi Lieberman, the head of the Yesha council in which he apologized for soldiers' conduct.
"In my opinion, the settlement and settlers (of Yitzhar) have been given a bad reputation. The central command will continue to embrace settlers and regard them as pioneers who set up their homes in Judea and Samaria," Naveh wrote.
Naveh's letter infuriated several field officers, particularly those serving in the West Bank.
In the past few weeks, several additional incidents between Yitzhar settlers and IDF soldiers occurred. Soldiers who were summoned to the area were cursed by drunken settlers. In one incident, settlers sealed off the entrance to the settlement and slashed tires of eight military vehicles.
Hazut, who is considered a promising IDF officer, told his audience that "officers feel they have no backup.
"The fact that Shoshan was not supported harmed us. I stand by his every word," he said.
"Perhaps Shoshan gave an interview without permission, but everything he said was true. It hurts us that instead of embracing us, we have been abandoned."
Officers attending the conference gave Hazut their full support.
Naveh said in regard to Hazut's accusations that it is important to differentiate between a group of law-breaking extremists, who will have to be dealt with, and the general population that should be embraced, particularly ahead of the disengagement plan.
He said he does not regret sending the letter but is sorry he didn't send a copy to the settlers of Yitzhar as well.
