The government must adopt a zero tolerance attitude towards extremist settlers, a departing senior officer said Wednesday during his farewell ceremony..
"We must publicly denounce radical Right elements in Judea and Samaria and exercise zero tolerance towards them," Outgoing Central Command Chief Major-General Gadi Shamni said.
Shamni was speaking at a ceremony marking the end of his term as head of the IDF Central Command, as he has been named the new military attaché to Washington. Taking over for him is Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrachi.
The Binyamin Settlers' Council was quick to respond, saying that "Maj.-Gen. Shamni is the last person who can lecture us about ethics, morality and democracy."
Shamni's had a somewhat volatile relationship with West Bank settlers, who frequently rallied outsidehis home whenever he would issue a restraining order barring one or several of them form the area.
The outgoing senior officer also received anonymous threats ,one of which said "(Shamni) you are an anti-Semitic Jew hater. We know how to find you. You love Arabs, the devil's spawn. Anyone who supports them is the devil's spawn too, and so are you."