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An IDF soldier guarding in Hebron last week. (dan keinan)
Last update - 18:48 18/04/2008
IDF troops do nothing as Hebron settlers threaten German MPs
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
Tags: settlers, Germany, Israel 

A group of Jewish settlers in Hebron insulted and threatened a visiting German parliamentary delegation touring the West Bank city on Thursday. The German embassy in Israel protested to the Foreign Ministry that Israel Defense Forces soldiers and police officers did nothing to stop the settlers' attacks. The German group cut short its visit to the city after the incident.

The IDF declined to comment on the incident, while the Israeli embassy in Berlin issued an apology.

Seven members of the German parliament's law committee toured Hebron, the West Bank's largest city. The IDF controls the center of the city to protect several hundred Jewish settlers living there.
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At the start of the visit, the legislators were cursed, insulted and threatened by a small group of settlers, the visitors said in a statement on Thursday.

"The Israeli police and army showed no willingness to step in and said they couldn't guarantee the safety of the delegation," the statement said. "In order to give the peace process a chance, the members of the law committee, as friends of Israel, appeal to the Israeli authorities to rein in the fanaticism of Jewish settlers."

The legislators, headed by German Green Party deputy Jerzy Montag, leader of a German-Israeli parliamentary group, said the settlers swore at them, threatened them, called them "Nazis" and poured paint on their cars. Following the attacks the delegation members decided to cut their visit short and left Hebron. They said were so shocked and upset that they considered leaving Israel immediately in protest.

The Israeli ambassador in Germany, Yoram Ben-Zeev, spoke to the lawmakers by phone and expressed his regret for the incident. Ben-Zeev said he will meet personally with every committee member in the delegation upon their return to Germany this week, to express his feelings and to apologize.

The German embassy in Israel protested to the Foreign Ministry in the name of the German government, saying the IDF soldiers at the site did nothing to stop the settlers.

"We're still looking into the circumstances of the incident," a senior Foreign Ministry source said. "This is not the first time that such things have happened and we can only regret it, especially since these are great friends of Israel."

A Foreign Ministry official said members of the German delegation called the ministry for help during the incident. The ministry contacted police and asked them to intervene, but by that time the delegation had already left.

Foreign Ministry officials said the delegation did not coordinate their Hebron visit with Israeli authorities, and therefore no preparations had been made for their arrival.

However, German diplomats said the Israeli embassy in Berlin had been given complete details of the visit even before the lawmakers arrived in Israel.

Noam Arnon, the spokesman for Hebron's settlers, said that while he does not agree or sympathize with the settlers' actions in this incident, "one must take into consideration that these were not innocent tourists."

The parliamentarian were accompanied by "an extreme left-wing organization that incites to drive the Jewish settlers out of Hebron and slanders the IDF and Israel," Arnon said. "It's like the tours of the National Jewish Front I used to lead in Arab villages."

Arnon invited the "representatives of European states" to visit Hebron without the "hostile escort" to see things as they really were.

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      1.   Im glad 02:18  |  Guy From NYC 18/04/08
      2.   From brown to green nazis... an evolution! 03:40  |  Ron Goldberg 18/04/08
      3.   Where is your hospitality Israel? 03:59  |  marilyn 18/04/08
      4.   just wondering 04:25  |  aj 18/04/08
      5.   No tourists, so what? 04:26  |  Fritz T. 18/04/08
      6.   CAN they really be that stupid? 04:36  |  PETER SM 18/04/08
      7.   letting go 04:37  |  hanoi 18/04/08
      8.   Ron is right! 04:50  |  Gordon 18/04/08
      9.   It says a lot 05:27  |  Mark Lincoln 18/04/08
      10.   Thugs threatening Germans and why 05:31  |  Mark Lincoln 18/04/08
      11.   Bloody Antisemites,nobody was even touched, just plain agitators 06:14  |  Genuine Tosefta 18/04/08
      12.   Wonder How They`ll Vote 06:33  |  Mark of Lewiston 18/04/08
      13.   The Hebron settlers perform a vaulable service 06:35  |  Natallie Durson 18/04/08
      14.   Guy from NYC What on earth are you talking.... 07:12  |  Mary Ashkelon 18/04/08
      15.   The Jewish Terrorists in Hebron 07:37  |  Avi 18/04/08
      16.   HaAretz Forgot 07:37  |  Shoshi 18/04/08
      17.   A good idea for a businessman with a social conscience 07:43  |  Genuine Tosefta 18/04/08
      18.   OOH THE GERMANS ARE UPSET... 08:00  |  Greg A. 18/04/08
      19.   I hope our German friends understand 08:49  |  JonathanInTelAviv 18/04/08
      20.   Shemoth 34 :7 09:19  |  Pinoo 18/04/08
      21.   Maybe it is time 09:21  |  Janice 18/04/08
      22.   Without IDF Presence in Hebron all the Jews would Be killed 09:24  |  Mike 18/04/08
      23.   wake up call 09:30  |  german 18/04/08
      24.   drip, drip 09:32  |  Steve 18/04/08
      25.   I actually think 09:38  |  rm 18/04/08
      26.   The Germans should have coordinated with the Jews of Hebron 09:38  |  Dani 18/04/08
      27.   #14, Jonathan in Tel Aviv - No, we dont 09:57  |  Fritz 18/04/08
      28.   Now you know EXACTLY who runs Israel 10:18  |  Clickfool 18/04/08
      29.   Friends of Israel 10:34  |  Walid 18/04/08
      30.   how ridiculous 10:34  |  scallywag 18/04/08
      31.   Settlers threaten. 10:36  |  David Nigel Braham 18/04/08
      32.   German friends of Israel attacked 10:38  |  Steve the Pals. 18/04/08
      33.   mark lincoln - also ridiculous 10:42  |  scallywag 18/04/08
      34.   innocent victims 10:43  |  potobac 18/04/08
      35.   Residents just showing their fear of attack 10:46  |  Lily 18/04/08
      36.   fuddled brains 10:47  |  Cornelia 18/04/08
      37.   natallie durson 10:48  |  scallywag 18/04/08
      38.   jonathan in tel aviv 10:54  |  scallywag 18/04/08
      39.   fritz 10:59  |  scallywag 18/04/08
      40.   Anarchy 11:01  |  sh 18/04/08
      41.   Dani: they did 11:01  |  Jan 18/04/08
      42.   No reports in german media 11:09  |  Jahangir 18/04/08
      43.   Fritz: what exactly do you not understand? 11:09  |  Jan 18/04/08
      44.   Jerzy Montag 11:11  |  Jahangir 18/04/08
      45.   to #26 11:11  |  pitcher 18/04/08
      46.   clickfool - "now you know exactly who runs israel" 11:11  |  scallywag 18/04/08
      47.   Winning friends and influencing people 11:16  |  Colin Wright 18/04/08
      48.   Slight misstatement 11:19  |  Colin Wright 18/04/08
      49.   # 20 right on ! hope you will really reconsider 11:49  |  Suad 18/04/08
      50.   Long live friendship 11:49  |  Angel 18/04/08
      51.   Israeli Government Does Not Control the IDF 11:50  |  Johan Odin 18/04/08
      52.   Great PR for Israel 11:58  |  The Prince 18/04/08
      53.   Just wondering,too 11:59  |  Hastaroth 18/04/08
      54.   #14 Fritz 11:59  |  MR 18/04/08
      55.   #32, scallywag 12:05  |  Fritz 18/04/08
      56.   Read, read... 12:05  |  MR 18/04/08
      57.   Where have we seen this before? 12:06  |  The Northern Wind 18/04/08
      58.   About the mirage of the German-Israeli friendship 12:07  |  Jonathan S 18/04/08
      59.   My name is Israeli settler and I love to make new friends...... 12:08  |  Swiss (Dino) 18/04/08
      60.   Fanatic settlers 12:13  |  Jack 18/04/08
      61.   Media disaster 12:16  |  Motic 18/04/08
      62.   #3 Marilyn 12:22  |  J. B. 18/04/08
      63.   pitcher 12:50  |  scallywag 18/04/08
      64.   # 37 motic 13:33  |  Axel 18/04/08
      65.   #14 Fritz Second try for Haaretz 13:37  |  MR 18/04/08
      66.   scallywag 13:39  |  Axel 18/04/08
      67.   Iran can help remove the illegal settlers form the West Bank 13:57  |  Aounist 18/04/08
      68.   # 41 scallywag 14:07  |  Axel 18/04/08
      69.   Lily`s lies 14:12  |  Truth 18/04/08
      70.   Pleading with the heathen 14:52  |  roger wallace 18/04/08
      71.   #21 Clickfool 15:03  |  Jim