An off-duty Israeli soldier was arrested Friday afternoon, after he attacked other IDF soldiers outside of a Jewish town south of Hebron.
The incident occurred near the community of Avigail, a fledgling community established near the southern edge of Judea, after clashes broke out between local Arabs and radical left-wing activists on one hand, and IDF soldiers on the other.
The suspect, a radical left-wing activist, is currently serving as an IDF soldier.
The soldier was not on active duty at the time of the incident, and was reportedly on a leave of absence.
During the incident, the off-duty soldier hurled rocks at other soldiers.
“I strongly condemn the throwing of stones by the civilians accompanying Palestinian residents against IDF forces,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Friday.
“This is a very serious incident which will be dealt with the utmost seriousness. We will not allow anyone to harm IDF soldiers who are carrying out their duty to secure Israel.”
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi called the incident “very serious” and “embarrassing, galling criminal behavior.”
Mount Hebron Regional Council chief Yochai Damri said the attacks on Israeli towns in the area and the soldiers who secure them have become a weekly routine.
“Every Friday, radical left-wing activists, anarchists, come to carry out provocations, to clash with IDF soldiers, and to disrupt the lives of residents.”
Left-wing activist Yariv Oppenheimer, a former leader of the Peace Now movement and 2019 Knesset candidate on the Meretz slate, pushed back on the condemnations of the attack, tweeting: “There have been hundreds of incidents of settlers throwing stones at Palestinians and IDF soldiers, beating or even shooting, and there’s no response.”
“But a claim by the army that one left-wing activist threw a stone goes viral on the right-wing feed.”
A statement by the IDF commented: "The Chief of the General Staff, LTG Aviv Kohavi, strongly condemns the violent attacks on IDF soldiers and sees the behavior of the Israeli and Palestinian suspects this morning adjacent to Mitzpe Abigail, as violent and criminal. One of the suspects who hurled rocks towards the IDF soldiers is an off-duty IDF soldier. He was then apprehended by the soldiers at the scene and was transferred to security forces for further processing."
The Chief of the General Staff, LTG Aviv Kohavi, commented that “This is a very serious event. This shameful and criminal behavior requires a rapid lawful response. IDF soldiers are operating decisively against terrorism in order to defend the civilians of the State of Israel. It is unacceptable that those same civilians are violently attacking the soldiers."