IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said on Monday that a rise in "nationalistic crime and terrorism" has been catalyzing an escalation in Palestinian terrorism.
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“It's terrorism, there's no other way to say it," Hagari told Ynet in reference to a deadly clash between Palestinians and settlers in the West Bank village of Burqa over the weekend which resulted in the death of a Palestinian man.
"Let there be no doubt; these actions push people in the Palestinian Authority, who are not involved in terrorism, toward terrorism. This phenomenon must be addressed. Once this phenomenon is curbed, there will be less terrorism,” he added.
When asked whether the military was aware of any incidents in which Palestinians were motivated to commit terror attacks as a retaliatory action against Jewish terrorism, Hagari confirmed such cases were known.
"In order to reduce terrorism in the West Bank, we need to suppress it, as we did yesterday with a terrorist cell that left Jenin, and operate defensive measures in the area," according to Hagari.
"We have 20 battalions stationed in the West Bank, and some training exercises aren’t being conducted because of this. We must prevent nationalistic crimes and terrorism, which also contribute to the rise of [Palestinian] terrorism," he added.
Speaking about the event that took place last week in which a Jewish settler shot dead a Palestinian man after confrontations in the West Bank, Hagari referred to a claim by the settlers they alerted the military about the incident in real-time.
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Qusai Jamal Matan who was killed during clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the village of Burqa
"It's a lie,” he said. “At 20:00, we received the first call from Palestinian officials about a clash between settlers and Palestinians in Burqa. A patrol that was stationed in the area saw no sign of clashes."
“At 20:52, we received a call from a security officer in an Israeli outpost, about two hours after the incident began. We had the exact location only at 21:09, and it took some time before we realized someone was injured in the incident,” he said.
“If we had known about the incident at 19:00 in the evening, I suppose it’s highly likely that we would have prevented it," he added.
Regarding National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's statement saying the settler who shot the Palestinian should be awarded, Hagari said: "I don't give out military decorations. The police are investigating the incident trying to understand why the settlers strayed over a kilometer from their outpost. The facts should be clarified and presented to the public.”
Ynet also reported last week that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar presented a strategic alert to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the situation in the West Bank even before the incident took place.
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Itamar Ben-Gvir said the settler that shot and killed a Palestinian man should be awarded
(Photo: Shaul Golan)
Hagari criticized the statement made by Likud party lawmaker Tali Gottleib on Sunday, in which she claimed that “the Deep State has infiltrated the leadership of the Shin Bet and the IDF.”
"This is a very serious accusation that harms the IDF, its commanders and Israel’s security, and it would have been better if it had not been said,” Hagari said. “These are people from across Israeli society who take risks throughout the Middle East to defend the country.”
Hagari admitted that the decision of hundreds of pilots and IDF officers not to report for reserve duty due to the judicial overhaul "will lead to a deterioration in quality personnel. The Air Force feels that impact, which will deepen should this continue."
"We are entering a month of peak enlistments to the IDF, and what strengthens the military and makes it the strongest army in the Middle East is its people, the best people in Israeli society," Hagari added.
"When a decision enters the IDF that has a split consensus, it poses a significant challenge to its readiness and unity, and there are no easy ways to fix that,” he said.
"If people don’t report for reserve duty, the IDF’s readiness will be compromised," Hagari said. "I don't think a war will happen soon, and I believe that should it happen, people will report for duty."
Regarding the possibility of rapid training for Air Force pilots to replace reservists who no longer report for service, he said: "There’s no such thing as rapid training for pilots. You can make a rusty veteran pilot competent again fairly quickly. The big problem in the current events is the damage to unity and the possible breach of trust it can cause. The public must trust the IDF.”
Hagari addressed reports from Syria about an Israeli strike in Damascus which took place on Sunday, saying: "I won’t talk about foreign publications, but I can say that the IDF is operating in the Middle East to prevent Iran and Hezbollah from establishing a presence in Syria and transferring high-quality weapons that could harm Israel.”