Fifty settlers raided and ransacked on Tuesday an IDF outpost that was manned by six soldiers who were deployed there to defend their attackers and neighbors in the community of Yitzhar, in northern Samaria.
An IDF spokesman told The Jewish Press that the soldiers did not suffer any injuries, contrary to a report in Ynet that said two soldiers were “lightly injured.”
The attackers raided the military post in revenge for the destruction of four houses by soldiers and police earlier in the day. Violent youth demonstrated their belief in the Land of Israel by throwing stones at the soldiers and police, injuring at least two of them. The demolitions, not by coincidence, followed the second vandalism of army vehicles in two days.
In the first vandalism attack, a youth age 15 was arrested. He has taken out his anger on the army following last week’s demolition of a home in Yitzhar , four days before it weas to be dedicated.
As usual in Israel, and especially in Judea and Samaria, the facts are not exactly what they seem, but there is one clear and correct conclusion: A bunch of loonies who have settled in several hilltop outposts the past several years have justified their ideology for criminal activity that rabbis and leaders of Judea and Samaria have ignored.
They have done incredible damage to the reputation of the 300,000 settlers, like myself, who live ordinary lives like every other Israeli citizen. This bunch of hooligans, suffering from ADD, XYZ, PTS and perhaps LSD, have armed the anti-nationalists – liberal Jews, journalists and governments – with all they need to justify terming me and every other person in Judea and Samaria as “illegitimate.”
There are approximately 220 families in Yitzhar Regional Council spokeswoman Esther Allush told The Jewish Press, “They are angry at the perpetrators of the violence and are frustrated.”
She harshly criticized the military for the demolition of the houses but emphasized there is no justification for violence, whether against Arabs or Israeli soldiers.
The demolitions usually originate with the Defense Ministry and almost always are for political reasons, but that is a subject in and by itself.
Violence by “hilltop youth” has been tolerated for years by leaders of Judea and Samaria and by their rabbis. They almost never encourage it, but they do nothing to stop it. In most cases, they know who the criminals are.
One official in a community in Judea and Samaria, who would be fired on the spot if his name were used, told The Jewish Press, “The vandals are criminals who act in the name of ideology. Leaders of Yesha (The Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria) have a problem dealing with them.”
Why can’t someone simply stop providing them with water and electricity? Why don’t the rabbis take them to a Rabbinic Court? Why don’t the regional councils simply order them to get off the land?
The official’s answers to these questions were the same as received by other officials interviewed in the past by The Jewish Press.
In most cases, they knew who these demented imbeciles are. One rabbi told me he really doesn’t believe they are criminals and that the stories in the media are exaggerated. He added, “Every inch of land where they settle is holy and therefore the youth should be praised. The good rabbi is living day and night in the Talmud, but the hilltop youth are not. They are living in a movie, and it is getting uglier every day.
Another rabbi said that only a handful of people are involved.
That was a convenient excuse and may have been true five years ago. It no longer is valid. These young and budding criminals interpret the lack of action against them as a wink and a nod to do was they please, all in the name of God.