The father of one of the soldiers who were involved in an incident, during which left-wing activists faced off with troops from the Givati Brigade in Hebron, is speaking out for the first time and is calling on the IDF to do something about the anarchists who come to provoke soldiers on duty.
"We support all of our troops who protect our land and we love the IDF soldiers, we love the state of Israel and the nation of Israel. Our son is a heroic soldier, the soldiers who were involved in the incident are heroes, we have been with them for the past half a year in Hebron, and we see their efforts, their daily work, day and night, to protect the nation of Israel in the best way possible so we can sleep soundly," the father stated.
He claims that the footage in which his son can be seen is partial and biased and that what was filmed was the reaction to the activist's provocation: "Unfortunately, anarchists came to bother them while doing their duty protecting civilians, they came and disturbed them and bothered them, you don't see that in the video. What was published was partial, my son said that they bothered them, spat at them, cursed at them, and caused them to express themselves politically."
The father called on the senior IDF brass to back up the soldiers: "The soldiers feel that instead of contesting with the enemy, they have to deal with Jews who come to disturb them on the job. Why can a police officer arrest someone who disturbs him from carrying out his duty but a soldier, that a disturbance to his duty can endanger lives, can be disturbed? Why isn't this phenomenon condemned? It's too bad that we need to deal with this sort of thing and not with the true threats.
The reality which the soldiers are in is difficult and effortful. If the enemy would have taken advantage of the incident to harm the soldiers G-d forbid, who would we blame? We support the soldiers and stand behind them in fighting those who hinder their work. I expect their commanders and the whole chain of command to support their soldiers, back them up and give them the confidence to do what they do and that anyone who disturbs them will be dealt with," the father demanded.
Attorney Adi Kedar from the Honenu organization stated: "The picture that is being painted is partial and biased. The soldier arrested the civilian who, together with others, disturbed the operational routine, and attacked and cursed soldiers. The civilian was detained, however, he resisted and escaped, and was seen lifting a suspicious article, which caused the soldiers to use force. The activities of anarchist left-wing bodies in the area hinder the defense forces and encourage terrorist riots, supported by the anarchist activity. The military and police must work to distance these activists from the area."
Attorney Moshe Polsky, who represents a different soldier involved in the incident, stated: "My client is an exemplary soldier, a fighter who works day and night for Israel's security. He and his friends were threatened, cursed at, and attacked by anarchist activists, who came to provoke. We will work to bring those activists to justice. We won't allow our soldiers to be trampled and disgraced. We will stand for the rights of my client, who just wanted to do his part in protecting the nation and land of Israel."