The Jerusalem Post ePaper

Launch ‘Operation Defensive Shield 2,’ settler leaders say

Judea and Samaria councils to go on strike today to pressure IDF, protest Palestinian terrorism

• By TOVAH LAZAROFF

Settler councils plan to strike on Thursday as part of their campaign to pressure the IDF to embark on a military operation against Palestinian terrorism akin to the 2002 Operation Defensive Shield.

The Yesha Council also plans to hold a rally in front of Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Rosh Ha’ayin home at 11 a.m.

At issue is the rising number of shooting attacks against Israelis in settlements or on the roads in the West Bank. According to the IDF, there were 34 shooting attacks in the West Bank in September, up from 23 in August and 15 in July.

On Sunday evening, Palestinians shot at settlers who had held a rally at the entryway to the Palestinian city of Nablus, lightly injuring an IDF soldier.

On Tuesday morning in advance of the Yom Kippur fast, settlers held a pre-holiday prayer service in that same area. Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel Smotrich and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan participated in the service.

“I hope that those who heard [the prayer] will understand the need for a drastic change in the security services approach,” Levanon said.

Smotrich said that “the government must order the IDF to launch a large-scale military operation in Nablus and Jenin to eradicate the nests of terrorism” that are established there before more harm comes to Israelis.

Dagan said unless the IDF embarks on a second Defensive Shield operation, it would only be a matter of time before there is “another victim and another orphan.”

“Every day that passes, and this government buries its head in the sand, brings us closer to the next disaster,” Dagan stated.

Settler leaders also held an emergency meeting on Monday in front of Gantz’s home, in which they issued a similar call for a second Operation Defensive Shield.

NEWS

en-il

2022-10-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://jpost.pressreader.com/article/281560884684886

Jerusalem Post