At an official ceremony for the change of command of the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf today (Sunday) handed over command to Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller.
The commander of Central Command, Avi Bluth, began with a citation from the weekly Torah portion, "On the coming Shabbat we will read the portion that begins 'When you go out to war against your enemy' and ends 'Remember what Amalek did to you'. On October 7, these two verses came together — when we, as an army, failed to defend our citizens, and the enemy, Hamas — like Amalek — launched a wicked attack."
He noted that the lessons of the October 7th massacre teach that the enemy must be assessed according to its capabilities and fought decisively, "Problems must be killed while they are small and not left to grow. We should not place our hopes solely on early warning and deterrence. The same applies to disturbances of the peace — we have determined not to tolerate disturbances but eliminate them immediately."
"The change that has taken place in Judea and Samaria over the past two years, and even more so since the start of Operation Wall of Iron, will still be studied and researched. All this was accomplished amid a war in which Israel is engaged on seven fronts. Yaki, you are handing over a sector that is much more stable and secure than the one you received."
"It is no secret that the central arena is the most complex of all arenas and requires a professional and value-based approach as well as a moral backbone to implement this approach. Day by day you, the commanders and soldiers, prove that it is possible to win and remain humane. Our mission as a command is to ensure that the central and eastern arenas remain stable and secure even as the challenges are great," Bluth emphasized.
"We are not confused; we know we operate in an area that has a civilian population and we see everyone. We set clear priorities — protecting Israelis, fighting terrorism and, yes, enforcing law and order. The decisive action against anarchist fringe youth has led to a decrease in nationalist crime over the last three months. We are committed to ensuring that this trend continues."
The general stressed that all IDF actions are carried out "with an offensive and cunning approach that sanctifies initiative, and all while adhering to the state's laws and rules of morality. The Torah says 'Justice, justice shall you pursue' — and we pursue it! We also pursue our enemies, and doing so while justice, morality and the law are our guiding light."
Looking ahead to the coming period he noted, "The holidays and the olive harvest are at hand, the battle for control of Gaza is ongoing, and there are various initiatives and statements that could shake the arena. Our enemies, though they were struck hard, try continuously to direct terrorism in the "West Bank" sector and from the eastern arena. Nevertheless, we are determined to continue the positive trends alongside our operational readiness for shifts and escalation."