IDF colonel has harsh words for settlement leadership

The commander of the Israel Defense Forces in the northern West Bank, Col. Itzik Bar, had harsh words for the settlement leadership following stone-throwing attacks Wednesday by settler youth on IDF soldiers conducting an anti-terror exercise in the settlement of Yitzhar.

"The settlement [leadership] has not released an announcement condemning the incident, which is very serous," Bar told Army Radio yesterday.

"The settlement must ask itself a very tough question about what is happening there in terms of education. I think there is a loss of control by the settlement leadership over what is happening in the settlements," Bar said.

During the drill, which had been coordinated with Yitzhar's security official and was designed to test the response speed of security forces to a terrorist incursion, some 30 young people surrounded the forces and began throwing stones. Two border policeman and a soldier were injured and taken to the hospital. The soldier was hit in the head with a rock.

Two military vehicles had their tires slashed and other military vehicles, including an ambulance, were also damaged during the incident.

The young settlers also blocked the exit to the settlement. Reinforcements were called in to disperse them.

Bar said that changes had been made to the settlement's security setup, but the drill, which was designed to test these changes, could not be completed due to the disturbances.

According to Yitzhar's spokesman, "under cover of an exercise simulating terrorist incursion" the army tried to destroy a building and a piece of construction equipment.

The IDF Spokesman's Office condemned the incident and said those involved would be dealt with harshly.