Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the lax enforcement by police, after extremist settlers were responsible for the death of Palestinians during their rampage of the Palestinian village of Gitit, in the wake of the murder of 14-year-old Binyamin Ahimeir in April.
In a meeting held at the Central Command, with the participation of the prime minister and the Tzachi Hanegbi, head of the National Security Council, police and the military traded blame for failing to arrest or prosecute settler violence amid American pressure. Central Command Chief, Yehuda Fuchs suggested that the influence of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was affecting the enforcement of laws against extreme nationalist's crimes.
2 View gallery
Settlers torch Palestinian car amid riots last April
(Pיםאם: Deir Dibwan local council )
The violence in Gitit began in a confrontation between the settlers and the local residents. The settlers claimed it was the soldiers, who arrived on the scene late, who had fired shots in self-defense, however, the IDF spokesperson rejected the claims and said that their preliminary investigation indicated that the shots were not fired by troops.
During the meeting, police representatives said that the narrative being presented was misleading, as if Jewish settlers had indiscriminately killed Palestinians and repeated the accusation that the troops had been responsible for the killing of two local Palestinians. Fuchs said those responsible were settlers who were serving in the military and were on leave.
Confrontations between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank
Netanyahu acknowledged that Jewish settlers were responsible for the deaths in Gitit and demanded to know why the police did not apprehend the suspected extremist settlers, during their violent rampage, pointing to the fact that even the weapon of one of the settlers, already under sanctions, was not confiscated. He said the Biden administration was putting pressure on him to take action. The police pointed at the Shin Bet and said they are responsible for providing intelligence.
Fuchs said that nationalist crimes increased significantly, but the police superintendent presented figures showing a 50% decrease in such incidents since January. This discrepancy in data reporting led to more friction, with both sides accusing each other of manipulating figures to suit their narratives
Despite the police's data suggesting a decrease in crime, the fact that no indictments were handed down in connection to the recent riots following Ahimeir's murder raised concerns about the effectiveness of law enforcement in these volatile situations.