Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh
Photo: Dudi Vaknin
Israelis forbidden to drive Palestinians in West Bank
Chief of IDF Central Command announces regulation requiring Israeli drivers to carry permit in order to transport Palestinians in West Bank; regulation, to take effect January, not applicable to all passengers
Israeli citizens will not be authorized to drive Palestinians in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley without a special permit, Chief of the IDF's Central Command Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh announced Sunday.
Naveh's command is scheduled to go into effect on January 19th, 2007. The IDF said that any citizen caught by security forces driving Palestinians in this area without a permit will be penalized.
The IDF explained that the command is pursuant to incidents of terror operatives taking advantage of transportation in Israeli vehicles, with yellow license plates, in order to improve their capabilities of infiltrating Israel.
The IDF clarified that, even if a Palestinian passenger has authorization to enter Israel or specific areas in the West Bank, the Israeli drive will still be required to hold a permit.
IDF sources emphasized that there are cases in which the regulation is not applicable – for example, when the Palestinian in the vehicle is a first degree relative of the Israeli citizen (parent, sibling, spouse, child, grandchild or grandparent).
According to Naveh, the regulation will also not apply to Palestinians working for international organizations or in infrastructure maintenance, on the condition that the Palestinian Authority provides permits identifying such workers.
