Israeli Press
Israeli soldiers tell Haaretz settlers run the army's West Bank reality
Graphic: Times of Palestine
Original Reporting
Israeli soldiers and officers who served in the occupied West Bank since October 2023 describe an army that no longer commands the settlers it drafted, in testimonies the Israeli daily Haaretz's military correspondent Yaniv Kubovich published on Sunday.
After the Gaza war began, the army enlisted about 5,500 settlers into regional defence units meant to guard settlements. The fighters say those units now act as an independent force, and that the battalions supposed to command them cannot, or dare not, rein them in.
A reserve officer identified as J., a deputy battalion commander in the southern Hebron hills, says settler youths hosted at a farm raided Palestinian homes repeatedly. When he moved to stop them, an armed regional-defence member threatened to accuse him of molesting the boys; his brigade commander then telephoned the settler to placate him.
"They treat us as servants, as if they are doing us a favour by letting us protect them."
A reserve commander identified as D., to Haaretz
The testimonies list three Palestinians shot dead in March in incidents involving regional-defence members, a man killed in Deir Jarir in April, and a drunk unit member spraying fire at homes in al-Arroub camp in May. Soldiers describe unauthorised checkpoints where Palestinians are cuffed and searched, cars stripped as "spoils of war" at Mount Ebal, and settlers walking freely through war rooms and sensitive intelligence.
A rabbi who shot at a distant shepherd, one commander recounts, had his rifle returned within two weeks.
