GOC Central Command Major General Roni Numa came to Neveh Tzuf (Heb: Oasis of Nectar) in the southwestern Shomron hills to the north of Ramallah, some 6 miles east of the Green line, about a week and a half after the July 21 massacre by an Arab terrorist of three members of the Salomon family by the Shabbat dinner table. According to an exclusive report by Hakol Hayehudi, the meeting was “loaded.”
The glaring communication gap between the area’s military commander—the absolute ruler at the top of a martial law government—was best exemplified when the locals complained of a band of anarchists who have been gathering every Friday for several years now in the area between Neve Tzuf and the neighboring Arab village of Nabi Salah, just to ferment strife against the Jews among the Arabs of the area.
They were taken aback by the commander’s response.
Neveh Tzuf old timer Tamar Amar told Hakol Hayehudi: “They told him that there are extremist leftists who are mobilizing near Neve Tzuf, so why doesn’t he stop them?”
Amar continued, “The General replied that he knows this, but it is very difficult for the IDF to locate the names of all the anarchists.”
According to another resident, in response to the Commander’s response, one of the residents pulled out a list of names of the anarchists he collected from their activities near Neve Tzuf.
“If and when my son and I are walking in Tel Aviv, and Yonatan Pollack spits on me and another anarchist curses out my son, it means they recognize us very well, as we do them – so it is inconceivable that the army cannot identify them,” the resident exclaimed.
Other residents pointed out to the General, that in when it comes to Yitzhar, he finds whomever he wants to in just minutes.
The conversation, which was attended by many residents, was held in the new neighborhood established by the residents and named after the victims.
According to the report, Major General Numa first lost his audience when he described to them how the IDF perceives potential Arab terrorism threats in Judea and Samaria.
It turns out the IDF divides the Judea and Samaria Arabs into four categories: “Violent,” “deterred,” “indifferent,” and “appeased.”
The General defined the Neveh Tzuf murderer as a member of the “violent” group who moved over to the “deterred,” but after a short period of time returned to the “violent” category and carried out the attack, and therefore the IDF was unable to act against him.
The residents say that Numa’s division of the Arabs into groups has become a joke in the community, with people asking each other, “Which group are you in today?”
Numa explained that he wishes to maintain as many of the Arabs in the more moderate groups, which is why it is necessary to refrain from collective punishment, which may cause other Arabs to resort to violence.
“I asked the General, which group did he think the mother of the terrorist, who supports him, belonged to?” said Tamar Amar, adding, “But he did not answer, he just gave me a look that we here call the Gush Katif look, which he gave every time someone raised a difficult question.”
The residents say that Numa’s division of the Arabs into groups has become a joke in the community, with people asking each other, “Which group are you in today?”
“After all, a terrorist who committed a terror attack while working in a supermarket belonged to the indifferent group and then, in two minutes, he jumped up two groups to the violents,” Amar said.
“It’s a joke. One of the teachers from the village asked the General how did they allow the terrorist to cross groups without a test? You sit in front of a serious person and you do not believe that he really means what is coming out of his mouth.”