A senior IDF officer said Sunday that soldiers guarding the community of Yitzhar were justified in failing to shoot a terrorist as he fled the town after stabbing a child. The terrorist had thrown aside his knife after the attack, the officer told Maariv. “Do you expect the soldiers to shoot an unarmed man?” he asked.
The officer blamed “weak” police forces in the area for the terrorist's success in infiltrating the community. He called on the government to increase the number of police officers in the area.