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Last update - 10:56 25/07/2008
IDF commander: We must deal with settler 'provocateurs'
By Uri Blau and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: settlers, Kedumim, West Bank 

The outgoing commander of the Samaria Brigade, Col. Amir Baram, last month told Israel Defense Forces and legal officials that efforts should be made to "deal with provocateurs" among settlement leaders.

Baram cited Kedumim Mayor Daniella Weiss and Rabbi Gadi Ben-Zimra, who heads an Orthodox girls' high school in the northern West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Levona as specific examples.

At that meeting, with IDF officers and officials from the State Prosecutor's Office, Baram focused in particular on two yeshivas in the northern West Bank whose students have been party to crimes against Palestinians in the area.
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One, called Dorshei Yihudcha, is located in Yitzhar and headed by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, an associate of Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, who headed the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva that was formerly located at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus. Shapira is among the rabbis who signed a manifesto in support of the suspects in a brutal attack on two Arab youths on Holocaust Remembrance Day in May.

"The community's moderates are unable to exert their authority over the yeshiva boys, and there are many complaints in the area," Baram was quoted as saying. "Two yeshiva boys recently went into a nearby Palestinian village to set fire to Palestinian cars, but they were caught and beaten, and the army had to extricate them."

The second yeshiva is Shiru Lamelech, located at the Havat Gilad outpost. Baram said that a number of "problematic" youths study at that yeshiva.

Baram cited the illegal outpost of Shvut Ami as another source of problems, saying that stone-throwing by residents continues despite a permanent IDF presence there.

Violence follows removal of trailer from West Bank outpost

Two men were released from custody on Thursday after having been detained earlier in the day for firing in the air when Palestinians threw stones at their cars. Police said that the two had acted properly, since their lives were endangered by the stone-throwing.

The incident, which took place at the Yitzhar junction in the northern West Bank, was one of a series of violent incidents that followed yesterday's removal of a residential trailer from the nearby outpost of Adei Ad.

In another incident, settlers from Yitzhar reportedly threw stones at the main road on their way back to Yitzhar from Adei Ad.

At the same time, the police and the Israel Defense Forces received reports that rocks had been thrown by Israelis in the nearby Palestinian village of Burin. Police and soldiers mounted an unsuccessful search for the stone-throwers.

In the shooting incident, one of the men stopped his car close to an IDF vehicle, took a weapon from one of the soldiers and fired into the air several times. The other driver fired his own weapon.

Yitzhar residents said the man who seized the soldier's gun was not a resident of the settlement, but rather an air-conditioning technician from Jerusalem.

5gftv cc"He happened to be at the site and was hit by stones, and since the IDF did not respond, he decided to do something," explained one.

Regarding the trailer's removal, a Yitzhar resident said: "The police and the Civil Administration think they can come and evacuate like a 'hit and run.' So we decided that for every attempt to evacuate, we would exact a price throughout the area. The tiniest evacuation will result in incidents all day long, so it will be clear we don't give up easily."

Related articles:
  • Settler holds knife to IDF soldier's throat in West Bank riot
  • Settler arrested in failed rocket attack on Palestinian town
  • Too easy on settler crime
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      1.   Revival of the Maskiot Program. "Provocateurs!" 09:52  |  Maureen Ann 25/07/08
      2.   How much longer can this be countenanced...?! 09:56  |  Esther 25/07/08
      3.   Arab violence caused the issue: No apology from Haaretz? 09:59  |  Dani 25/07/08
      4.   Where the rot sets in... 10:02  |  Esther 25/07/08
      5.   No doubt there is some lack of discipline in Israel proper too 10:42  |  Sam 25/07/08
      6.   Law & Order 11:14  |  jewish Grandma 25/07/08
      7.   Sounds like a man who has had a gutfull 11:18  |  Johnboy 25/07/08
      8.   Double expectations 11:23  |  Tzfonit 25/07/08
      9.   No Sir, we should treat them as heroes instead 11:58  |  Moshe 25/07/08
      10.   Deal with them 12:47  |  rm 25/07/08
      11.   deal with hezbollah and hammas first,you coward 13:24  |  chaim 25/07/08
      12.   Nuts and Fanatics 14:22  |  Steve 25/07/08
      13.   Esther 14:44  |  GABE1 25/07/08
      14.   Abusive Settlers 15:03  |  Natallie Durson 25/07/08
      15.   I predict 15:17  |  Guy From NYC 25/07/08
      16.   #2 Esther TA 16:09  |  * BEN JABO 25/07/08
      17.   Israeli violence. 16:27  |  M. Franks-Lhermann 25/07/08
      18.   You know Hebron....ya know what`s going on there?? 16:46  |  Deafjah 25/07/08
      19.   Natallie Durson - What about unarmed Israeli`s that 17:24  |  Ben 25/07/08
      20.   Why didn`t he `deal with them`? 17:33  |  Mark Lincoln 25/07/08
      21.   9 then I guess you are ok with terrorist heros 17:34  |  Dave Duncan 25/07/08
      22.   US should cancel passports of all west bank settlers 17:36  |  Chanalau, Tova 25/07/08
      23.   Col. Amir Baram its Kadima & Labors failed policys 17:48  |  Shepherd 25/07/08
      24.   #21 Dave Duncan 18:13  |  * BEN JABO 25/07/08
      25.   #19 Deafjah -Frankfurt 18:17  |  * BEN JABO 25/07/08
      26.   #14 Derson 18:23  |  Dr Noam 25/07/08
      27.   @ Natallie Durson 19:24  |  Ralph 25/07/08
      28.   remove them 19:58  |  Michael 25/07/08
      29.   Helpless soldier 20:09  |  David 25/07/08
      30.   DESTROY THEIR FAMILY HOMES 20:15  |  johnj 25/07/08
      31.   THE ONLY ARABS KILLED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING 20:45  |  Steve 25/07/08
      32.   Religious zealots undermining Israel`s welfare 20:52  |  Nathaniel 25/07/08
      33.   #28 Michael - What makes u think they`re from Bklyn? 20:54  |  * BEN JABO 25/07/08
      34.   ben jabo 16 21:11  |  potobac 25/07/08
      35.   #34 Potobac - Ever heard of "REMAND" 21:32  |  * bEN JABO 25/07/08
      36.   #33*BEN JABO 21:33  |  johnj 25/07/08
      37.   BEN JABO 22:02  |  wh 25/07/08
      38.   BEN JABO 22:12  |  wh 25/07/08
      39.   Ben Jabo 22:21  |  Dave Duncan 25/07/08
      40.   BEN JABO 22:23  |  wh 25/07/08
      41.   34--Check your history 22:48  |  Miransky 25/07/08
      42.   I meant 36 not 34 22:49  |  Miransky 25/07/08
      43.   #41Miransky 23:08  |  johnj 25/07/08
      44.   miransky 23:18  |  wh 25/07/08
      45.   They may be settlers, but.... 23:56  |  R 25/07/08
      46.   Nathaniel @32 00:07  |  GRISHA LUBA 26/07/08
      47.   ben jabo 35 00:11  |  potobac 26/07/08
      48.   r 45 00:15  |  potobac 26/07/08
      49.   Tzfonit #8: you can`t compare it to Hamas yet - 00:17  |  ivo 26/07/08
      50.   Ben Jabo... 00:17  |  Silvienne 26/07/08
      51.   Ben Jabo, just tell me straight out... 00:21  |  Silvienne 26/07/08
      52.   MISSed Dursham @14 00:46  |  GRISHA LUBA 26/07/08
      53.   CAN YOU IMAGINE A PALESTINIAN DOING THAT !!! 01:19  |  CANADA 26/07/08
      54.   #53 Canada, oh Canada 01:48  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      55.   #36 Johnj - I did check my facts, try checking yours 01:57  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      56.   #39 Dave Duncan 02:05  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      57.   #37 wh - no dear fellow/girl, you`re altering the facts 02:13  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      58.   #38 wh - what are you trying to tell me 02:16  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      59.   #40 wh - I was right - It`s too cold in Canada 02:18  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      60.   #55 Ben Jabo 02:19  |  johnj 26/07/08
      61.   Johnj - Try some fact checking yourself 02:26  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      62.   #51 Silvienne - I condemn the Palestinian behavor 02:40  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      63.   ben jabo 62 02:56  |  potobac 26/07/08
      64.   Johnj: the WB is NOT a Palestinian state - yet! 03:01  |  AliciaYasmeen 26/07/08
      65.   #63 potobac 03:29  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      66.   #60 johnj - Try reading SLOWLY this time 04:03  |  * BEN JABO 26/07/08
      67.   ben jabo 65 05:40  |  potobac 26/07/08
      68.   #64, AliciaYasmeen, neither is it an Israeli province.. 05:51  |  Silvienne 26/07/08
      69.   Ben Jabo & johnj.... 05:59  |  Silvienne 26/07/08
      70.   #62, Ben, I am quoting the IDF`s words in the article...