Of the around 100 Jewish “anarchists” – as they were labeled by IDF Central Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth – who attacked a Palestinian village on Tuesday, the IDF said on Wednesday that only one remains in police custody.
Ninety-four of the Jewish attackers, who set fire to Palestinian vehicles and trucks, as well as a factory and agricultural land in Beit Lid, near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, and injured four Palestinians, got away scot-free from the start.
Six were initially detained by the IDF and the police, but two were sprung when a second wave of violent Jewish extremists attacked the soldiers who were holding them.
Of the four who were brought to the Judea and Samaria Police Headquarters, three were released within less than a day, and only one was still being held as of Wednesday afternoon. The IDF responded to the incident after Palestinian media reported the Jewish extremist arson attack on local trucks belonging to a dairy factory near Beit Lid.
The extremists also attacked the factory, agricultural lands, metal sheds, and several tents belonging to Bedouin families.
This latest large-scale attack on Palestinians follows nearly daily smaller-scale attacks by Jewish extremists on Palestinians in the West Bank, with the IDF putting the number at 85 during this quarter.
In comparison to the similar quarter last year, when there were “only” 25 such incidents, this is a major jump.
IDF trying to 'hold back the wave of violence'
While the IDF says it is doing its best to hold back the wave of Jewish violence against Palestinians – which is still much lower in volume than the number of full-fledged attempted Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis – IDF sources say they need more tools to put down the wave.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday said that the military would not tolerate such attacks, gave Bluth his backing, and said that the IDF would bring the perpetrators to justice – though there has been little record to back that up in recent years.
The Jerusalem Post understands that the vast majority of IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officials believe that administrative detention of such violent Jewish-Israelis must be restored and were always against suspending that measure.
They are critical of Defense Minister Israel Katz’s initial move and his repeated refusal to reevaluate the issue but must keep their criticism private and behind closed doors due to their being in uniform. On January 17, Katz ended administrative detention for Jewish-Israelis, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had supported the practice for 16 of his 17 years in office.
Then, on June 3, Katz appointed Col. (res.) Avichai Tenami as the special project manager to handle and try to reduce Jewish West Bank hilltop youth violence through dialogue. Tenami is an educator and a former commander and soldier in the elite unit Sayeret Matkal. Katz hoped that Tenami’s work would replace the need for administrative detention.
However, the mass violence immediately after Tenami’s appointment, which is still continuing, has indicated that dropping administrative detention has unleashed even worse Jewish extremist violence. Also, the fact that administrative detention was repealed in January and Tenami was only appointed five months later seemed to make it clear that his new initiative was a low priority.
In the background is the fact that top IDF and Shin Bet officials have repeatedly said for an extended period that the police have failed to properly do their job in this area during Itamar Ben-Gvir’s era as national security minister.
Regarding Ben-Gvir’s impact on the police, the state prosecution has gone forward with a criminal probe against West Bank police commander Moshe Finchi, top Ben-Gvir aide Chanamel Dorfman, and West Bank deputy chief for complex cases Avishai Mualem.
The allegations are that they worked together to either cover up cases in which Jewish extremists committed crimes against Palestinians or otherwise sought to interfere in such cases, including leaking or mishandling classified Shin Bet intelligence.
Bluth has tried to hold back the wave of Jewish violence by issuing over 30 restraining orders against Jewish extremists to keep them out of Judea and Samaria. On July 20, Bluth signed an order declaring that wearing a face mask outdoors in Judea and Samaria was punishable by six months in prison.
In fact, if an individual is caught committing a crime while wearing a face mask, they can be sentenced to a minimum of two years just based on the face mask part of the offense. This unusual move was a new initiative to make it harder for both Hamas terrorists and Jewish extremists, who perpetrate violence and nationalistic offenses, to avoid arrest.
Israeli law enforcement said it has been hard at times for either the IDF or the police to arrest suspects because their faces were covered and they purposely would mix and intermingle, making it hard to track which individual had perpetrated a particularly violent or arson crime and which just carried out “light” rioting.
Pressed on Wednesday for statistics on how many indictments arose out of this new initiative, the IDF had not responded at press time.
But IDF sources indicated they would advocate for holding Jewish extremist detainees for longer periods in order to interrogate them, even without administrative detention, since current rules let them remain silent briefly, after which they receive legal advice that can help them avoid self-incrimination even when they are guilty.
President Isaac Herzog called the incident “shocking and severe.”
“Such violence against civilians and IDF soldiers crosses a red line, and I strongly condemn it. All state authorities must act decisively to eradicate this phenomenon and to strengthen the IDF soldiers and security forces who protect us day and night.”
While some IDF and opposition figures condemned the attacks on the Palestinians and on IDF soldiers, neither Katz nor Netanyahu issued any condemnation.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.