Too Little and Possibly Too Late

 In September 2024, a group of settlers attacked the school in Ma`aragat. Girls and their female teachers fled screaming, the school principal was beaten as were the activists of "Looking the occupation in the eye". The excuse for the attack was a false claim, that  a sheperd settler was attacked by a Palestinian resident. Four of the attackers are now on trial for the attack. The police and the prosecution office acted differently this time, simply because the attack was recorded by the activists, and that the complaint was filed by Israeli citizens.

 A few days ago, I got a phone call from the district attorney's office, because  I am one of the plaintiffs who was beaten by the attackers. "We are about to reach a plea bargain with the attackers, what is your position?" asked the lawyer. I answered him that since cases in which settler teenagers and their senders are rarely prosecuted for their frequent crimes, their punishment must fit their crime, and should serve as some sort of deterrent.

Filing of false claims by the settlers is common, and they are encouraged to do so by the fact that the authorities treat their claims as proven facts. Two weeks ago settlers' publication stated that at the Palestinian shepherd's village of  Jinbah, In the south of Har Hebron "A Jewish shepard was attacked...terrorists from the village Jinbah attacked the shepherd with clubs, when he was at the pasture and injured him".

 Nir Hasson, (Haaretz),  thoroughly investigated the matter, and published the truthful facts: "On Saturday it was discovered that the shepherd was not quite the innocent one. In a  video shot by the Jinbah residents, the shepherd is seen riding a small utility vehicle approaching two Palestinian shepherds, and attacking one of them. It is not clear what happened next, and if he was indeed injured by one of the shepherds, or if he was injured by a man who came to assist them - but it is clear that this is not an innocent shepherd. Yet the retaliation by the settlers started immediately after that.”

 Sure enough, a group of youngsters, armed with clubs, raided the village, entered one of the houses, and attacked its occupants, severely injuring a 15-year-old, fracturing the skull of his father, and breaking the hand of his brother. That attack was documented and widely shared online. The settlers did not stop there. Dozens of uniformed soldiers, some of them  local settlers, came to the village and arrested twenty-two men that were taken to an army base nearby. A statement issued by the police, said that  "twenty-two suspects, who played an active part in the incident were arrested".

The army raid was carried out  under the title  of "operational activity to discover weapons of war". In fact, dozens of soldiers went through all the houses in the village, destroying the food and property of its residents. The commanders of the force did not report this, and the incident was discovered only by Palestinian documentation, posted and widely shared online, and also got exposure also in the communication media.

Even though attacking Palestinian villages is nothing new, an attack where dozens of soldiers take part in it is rare. Usually they are pasively present and seem indifferent to what is happening.

The chief of staff Eyal Zamir is surely aware how the army discipline norms have deteriorated. He chose a demonstrative step, to show his subordinates that the lawlessness in Judea and Samaria has ended. He did that by  coming to the location of the incident, investigating and at the end of the day issuing a  series of commands to hold  those involved and their commanders responsible.

The IDF announced that a commander and two warriors who took part in the riots were sentenced to 7 days of imprisonment, and the platoon commander was relieved of duty. In addition, the commander of the Judea Brigade received a reprimanding remark, as did the officers below him. Furthermore, the army is checking the involvement of soldiers from the local defense units, some of them settlers living in the area.  As of now no steps have been taken against them yet.

The army also issued a statement by the General Commander of Central Command, Avi Blut, according to which this is "a grave occurrence, which does not comport with the professional and moral conduct expected from army soldiers in general, and in the occupied territories in particular".  This is, however, the same general who chose to ignore a bunch of letters warning against army units under his command, ignoring what settlers are doing to the Palestinian Shepherd communities. He is choosing to ignore the fact that violent settlers are serving in the regional defense units - since the beginning of the war five and a half thousand of them were drafted. While in uniform, they are abusing the Palestinians residing in the occupied territories and since October 7th, their villages are surrounded by a growing number of illegal settlements.

 The army has been the sovereign in the occupied territories since 1967. According to international law, occupation is a temporary state, emanating from a military need. The military commander is not entitled to consider national, economic and social interests of his country, as long as they are not connected to his security interest in the area, or the interest of the local population. His duty is to care for the welfare of its residents prior to the occupation. On the 19th of July 2024, the international court of justice at The Hague, published an opinion, which said among other things, that the policy and actions of Israel at the west bank are contradictory to international law. The court established that the policy of widening of settlements caused a rise in settler and security forces violence against Palestinians, while the authorities in Israel do not prevent them, and do not bring the offenders to justice.

One cannot expect that the chief of staff Zamir will embrace the rulings of the international court, and reverse the behavioral norms of his soldiers in the west bank, norms that are supported by this bloody government. One cannot ignore zamir’s  participation with the renewal of the war in Gaza, with the army perpetrating war crimes which are against international conventions. "Having said that", posted Doron Meinhart  "He is also trying to prevent turning the army from deteriorating into a militia which is positive... there are signs indicating that he's trying to bring back discipline to the IDF and restore it to be an army again and not a  militia. This is a  development in a positive direction. Of Course this is just  the beginning, but if that trend continues, it could have a positive effect to reduce the crimes committed by the army."

It seems, however, that way the army is handling the settler epidemic, as inspired by Zamir, is too little and possibly too late. A human rights activist, who sat in a military jail for his refusal to serve in the IDF, said that incarcerated with him was a cook that was half an hour late for his shift and kicked a potted plant. For these deeds he was sentenced to 14 days. Will the brainwashed, transfer lovers and third temple supporters, who severely injured 3 Palestinians, and ruined the house contents of an entire village,  be scared by 7 days of military imprisonment? If the chief of staff wanted to send a real message to the settlers and to the public, he would ensure that the rioters receive a punishment that fits their crimes and would have some deterrence value.

One cannot hope that the  heads of the army will change conduct rules to comply with  international law. It is indeed very difficult to erase norms which have been rooted since 1967, and are legitimized by most Israelis. The liberal public, that is opposed to the messianic spirit which took over the government, can  bring change in the conduct of the army. For that to happen this  public must recognize the fact that the occupation does not remain far away beyond  dark mountains, but is the root cause of the shredding and annulment of Israel's Declaration of Independence they are trying to protect.