A roadblock at dusk where the driver cannot see the soldiers properly....I wonder how this would have been reported if it was a Palestinian who had been shot?

10 years at least

I can't even begin to comprehend the pain that Mr. Martzbach's family is going through, and I feel sorry that a life has been cut short. Yet I also pity the poor soldier who thought he was defending himself, and will now likely carry guilt all his life.

i know that sometimes it might be dark sometimes a cop jumps out infront of you from nowhere but this guy didnt stop at all he kept going at least slow down and look at your mirrors. if he did that then i think this tradgedy could have been avoided.

what do mean accidental??!!this is horrific!!!!they could have shot on the car wheels!not in his window!!!!!its so sad and shocking!!NO WORDS!!!!POOR FAMILY!!!!may they be comforted by hashem!!!

These soldiers are obviously NOT receiving appropriate instructions and info. THE SAME POOR JEWS FROM OTNIEL travel EVERY MORNING to Hebron to pray in Me'arat HaMakhpela. The Jews in Otniel ALL serve in the army and know VERY WELL the standing procedures. If the soldiers are idiots who have no idea even what Mearat HaMakhpelà is and think it's a hole in the ground (how many I PERSONALLY TOOK THERE for years WHO TOLD ME SO!) and are lead and instructed by unprofessional idiots who care more about becoming politicians and certainly don't teach them to be near and friendly to the JEWS that they must defend, no surprise that such things happen. Under the command of the same Hagai Mordechai now commanding the area, already two other soldiers were killed not far from there with hundreds of bullets and a missile on their security car with clearly written SECURITY on it: they just have no idea of what is going on!!! Then, if you think that it's the driver's fault for not seeing a soldier in the dark of the night, you really don't know what you are talking about.

When you have an army whoes main raison d'etre seems to be grandstanding and posturing, basic training and discipline takes a backseat. Its this lack of discipline and focus on objective that renders the army a mess. Its too bad as young lives are needlessly endangered. The fish stinks form the head and the buck stops at the PMO and his putz fool the DM. As for Gantz his ace in the hole is that he is a good little errant boy ala the disengagement, other than that he is worthless.

This is a terrible tragedy and I send condolences to the familes. However, you sir, seem to have exceedingly limited 'knowledge' about the IDF and its soldiers. The IDF has an educational division which teaches all the soldiers LOVE OF THE LAND THEY ARE CHARGED WITH DEFENDING! I for one seriously doubt that they would need someone as hateful and insulting as you to handle education! Clearly you do not have a clue what it means to stand proud with the IDF!

My deep condolences to the Rabbi's family. There are some errors which seem blatant, here: 1. No 'accident'. A weapon was loaded, armed and discharged at a target. So: No "Accident". There is no such thing as an "accident". An event may or may not have been intentional or the results as well, but no 'accident'. The word seeks to abet irresponsibility. 2. Why didn't the driver stop? Was there insufficient illumination of the road block due to the danger in the area? If so, why aren't sufficient patrols mounted to make it secure? This might have been almost entirely preventable. 3. Are there steps being taken to prevent this type of event in the future? Why not simply make a barrier which requires a vehicle to stop and turn 90 degrees twice to proceed (like an 'S' )?

vehicle or with stolen Israeli plates driven by an arab terrorist? Were the soldiers to risk their lives if the terrorist wanted to drive into them? It happened before. Why couldn't the driver slow down? Was he afraid it was a terrorist ambush? Why was he driving erratically? Was he ill? Why couldn't the driver and passengers wait for sunrise? Is it so important to pray in the dark? This article could have been written about a soldier killed by a terrorist driving the car and hitting the soldiers at the roadblock. One thing that angers me, why didn't the soldiers open fire on the arab truck that hit one of them.

Segio, we're waiting for you to come and take command of the forces in the area seeing as you know best how it should be done

This is a sad tragedy; even more so when a society has to live in constant fear of just driving down a road or manning a post to keep those very roads safe. The darkness, I'm sure, played an intengral part. Perhaps, the driver was driving fast as to not get struck by any Palestian rock-throwers; and, the soldier, out of fear, not taking any chances for his safety and that of his fellow soldiers, thus firing...thinking, at that moment, it was his only option. War/Terrorism happens in a nano- second. It's sad but true: When in doubt it's better to be safe than sorry. The soldier did his job under the most diffilcult of situations. I'd done the same than. In the fog-of-war it's-kill-or-be-killed. So sad that a society has to be made to live with those choices (but they have to be made). Oh, yeah, catch that driver...because that was no sad mistake! God bless Israel and His Jerusalem (Muslim free)! A Christian Zionist

It's so sad when one dies as he is going to pray; so sad that a soldier has to make a split-second decision that changes lives forever. It is the true reality of the situation; a reality born of fear, and living with that fear, because it's the only option one has. God bless Israel and may He quell the hate that lives in the hearts of the Palestians'.

Is it all accident, or are the IDF targetting settlers?

Now apparently the idf is "poorly trained" and this was an "accident"... Will remember this next time they shoot dead a palestinian

why was he driving without lights? if the soldier feared for his life or the life of his fellow soldiers he has every right to open fire having said that its a terrible tragedy

Al ,the I.D.F are not what they used to be and in any conflict today , Israel might quickly be in trouble. I hope I am mistaken but this incident seems to be another example of the rot.

The tragic error would not have been so if the diver had been Palestinian, it wouldn't have been accidental either. It was not a permanent check point, But a makeshift road-block!. A guard in the Beit Hagai settlement detected a vehicle driving along Route 60 in a suspicious manner at around 5 am, and reported this to IDF forces. A military source said that the IDF quickly set up a makeshift roadblock several kilometers north of where the car was spotted. Otniel is Orthodox settlement with a yeshiva. The community rabbi for Beit Hagai is Rabbi Moshe Eliezer Rabinovich (HaLevy). There are15 yeshiva students in Beit Hagai. Most inhabitants of the settlement work in Kiryat Arba. Those workers who have state subsidized homes fall easily perry to religious maneuvers. Was it plot fueled by religious conflict. Ynet!, It couldn't be accidentally if the IDF was informed before. why hiding that the roadblock was made just few minutes before and especially to shoot?

Well I've said it for years: These trigger happy "soldiers" have been shooting first, ask questions later and thus murdering hundreds or thousands of Palestinians; each incident you'd blame the Palestinian and never question the integrity of the IDF. Well here is proof that what goes around comes around: one of your own, a rabbi no less, gunned down in another "accident."

((It's so sad when one dies as he is going to pray)) Indeed. ((so sad that a soldier has to make a split-second decision that changes lives forever)) HAHA. You're in denial. These people shoot at anything that moves. He shot many times, that's not split-second. ((It is the true reality of the situation; a reality born of fear, and living with that fear, because it's the only option one has)) LOL. I wonder what you'd say if the driver was really a Palestinian whose intentions were just the same as the deceased. ((God bless Israel and may He quell the hate that lives in the hearts of the Palestians'.)) Best statement yet. An Israeli kills an Israeli, whose fault is it? Palestinians! Well, as we've seen today, this trigger-happy attitude that usually kills Palestinians, is going to create lots of hatred, no? Occupying their land, building on their land, raiding and spreading fear and oppression amongst them will not "quell hatred."

ck wasnt setup when the car passed by, but the soldiers were allgedly waving with flashlights... its strange, that obvously none of the four people noticed anything of that... no roadblock, no signs to stop... and further, there was another case, last year or so, when four settlers were shot in their cars... first they were hit and then each of them executed point blank... two couples... its counted of a terror attack of course, but it looks pretty weird...

area, when i read it right... very close to that settlements...

These soldiers were in the proces of erecting a makeshift checkpoint in the dark which apparently was not visible for oncoming drivers. This could explain why the driver did not stop and why the Palestinian truck ran over the Israeli soldier as he crossed the dark road to check out the vehicle with the Israeli colonist. So many innocent Palestinians get killed in these kind of circumstances in occupied Palestine, the victims of trigger happy, undisciplined soldiers. They of course will never be given the status of "terror victim" with associated payment of compensation made to the victim's bereaved family. But in the case of Mr Mertzbach, the colonist killed by the Israeli soldiers, it is more than likely that his family will receive payments on account of his status as "terror victim". No doubt in 20 years time, when noone remembers the circumstances in which Mertzbach was killed, it will be assumed that he was a victim of Palestinian "terror". All part and parcel of Israeli denial.

another one less! no worries

e... with the two executed couples... was the murder weapon ever determined ? what brand model etc... ?