Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the Security Cabinet, sent a request to the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister to investigate the events that led to the closing of Route 60 to Israeli traffic on the eve of the holiday for the funeral of a terrorist.
The full letter reads:
"1. Around half past ten, a report was received in Samaria communities about the voluntary closure of Route 60 in Huwara to Israeli traffic. As a resident of Kedumim, I received an SMS. With the aforementioned report from the regional call center at 10:24, a brief investigation I conducted revealed that the IDF closed the road due to a funeral procession that was to pass through the place, for a terrorist who was killed last night by IDF soldiers."
"2. I immediately telephoned the military secretary of the Prime Minister, Major General Avi Gil, and asked to find out with him whether this is a deliberate and pre-coordinated policy of closing the road to Israeli traffic on the eve of the holiday and Shabbat for hours in order to allow the funeral procession. It is understood that insofar as this is a conscious policy decision, I protested that it is illogical and illegitimate, hurts the residents severely, and sets a dangerous precedent for other areas in Judea and Samaria."
"3. A few minutes later, the Prime Minister's secretary came back to me and claimed unequivocally after an examination that this was not a decision in advance or a policy but a temporary closure due to an event that was out of control. According to him, "Several hundred Arabs started coming down the road by surprise, and the IDF did not prepare in advance, so it temporarily closed the road until reinforcements arrived and the road kept clear to prevent friction." Maj. Gen. Gil also said that "the Chief of Staff instructed to open the road as soon as possible." Under these circumstances, I accepted his explanation."
"4. However, in practice the road remained closed for 4 and a half hours, many riots took place there, and worst of all, when the event was over, officials in the security system came across an explicit statement according to which "Huwara is closed to everyone, we only allowed the funeral procession to pass". This statement seemingly directly contradicts the statement of the Prime Minister's military secretary:"
"5. Either way, this is a serious event with serious consequences. A main thoroughfare that turns into the scene of a massive riot which could be mistaken for the old city of Nablus, in what appears to be a complete loss of control. I would ask you to order the IDF to immediately conduct a thorough and in-depth investigation of the incident and present its conclusions and recommendations to me and the members of the cabinet.''
''To the extent that the axis was closed by a conscious decision in advance and in coordination with the Arabs for the time of the funeral, it is necessary to investigate who made the decision and by what authority. Did the Chief of Staff know about this and approve it in advance, and who lied blatantly to the Prime Minister's military secretary, and by extension to me, a minister in the government? Who was the contact on the other side and what guarantees were provided to maintain order and security, how did the incident get out of control and turn into a massive riot that caused the blockage of a road for so many hours that it could become a security risk all of its own?"
"According to General Gil, this was not a decision in advance. Why was the IDF not prepared in advance with appropriate forces during the funeral procession to maintain order and security and prevent the closure of the road, why were mass funerals not prohibited during the day, why did it take so long to take control of the incident and open the road despite a clear directive from the military secretary, and why did the secretary speak about it the way that he did? And above all, what needs to be done to prevent a recurrence of such a case in the future? It is understood that closing a central road for hours in the middle of the day and more on the eve of a holiday is illogical and unacceptable."