Following the incidents in the village of Qusra, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Monday that the IDF must submit within two weeks a plan to transfer civilian enforcement activity in the West Bank to Israel Police.
“We will not allow violence or people taking the law into their own hands by unauthorized elements,” Katz said during a security discussion attended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior military officials, including Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.
Maj. Gen. Bluth, IDF Chief of Staff Zamir, Defense Minister Katz
(Photo: Menahem Kahana / AFP, IDF)
The Defense Ministry said it was also agreed, in coordination with the Central Command chief and professional officials, to move quickly to regulate legally operating farms.
A statement issued on Katz’s behalf said the discussion addressed “very serious phenomena of lawbreaking and violent activity by a small minority among the Jewish settler population, which force the IDF to allocate more and more forces to dealing with the issue.”
According to the statement, “deterrent economic measures will be considered against anyone carrying out illegal or unregulated activity that causes major expenses for the defense establishment, in addition to the criminal aspects of the acts.”
In recent days, a group of settlers took control of an area on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Qusra in the West Bank. The participants surrounded Palestinian residents’ homes and refused to leave for an extended period despite repeated attempts by troops sent to the area to remove them.
Katz had already announced Friday that he had instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to transfer all enforcement powers concerning Israeli civilians to the police.
“The IDF’s role is to fight Palestinian terrorism and focus on defending the borders and communities against threats,” Katz said. “All responsibility for civilian enforcement and maintaining law and order will be transferred to the police.”
Police officials said in response that Katz’s announcement mainly concerns police activity in Area C outside Israeli communities. They said there are nearly 160 farms spread across a broad area. According to the officials, for police to operate in Areas A and B, the state would have to apply sovereignty there and turn those areas into Area C. They added that police currently cannot operate in those areas without military accompaniment, and that even there, officers’ enforcement powers require specific approvals.
A senior official in the Judea and Samaria District said, “Defense Minister Israel Katz’s move is intended to divert criticism from the IDF, which is the sovereign authority in the area, to the police.”