Magistrate's Court President Menachem Mizrahi ruled after viewing official IDF documents that, in contrast to claims on the left, no forces were transferred from the Southern Command to the Central Command the day before the October 7th Massacre.
The dramatic ruling comes as part of a lawsuit by MK Tzvi Succot against Maj. Gen. (res.) Dan Harel. Harel claimed that IDF soldiers were relocated specially from the Gaza envelope to protect Succot's protest sukkah in Huwara, and even asked that the Operations Directorate transfer classified documents to Judge Mizrahi, who agreed to the request. However, the documents proved that Succot was correct.
Judge Mizrahi's decision follows testimony by Yehuda Fox, who served as commanding officer of the Central Command at the time of the massacre. Fox categorically refuted the allegations, stating explicitly: “No soldiers were diverted from the Gaza border communities to the Samaria region. Not a single soldier was brought to guard MK Succot’s sukkah." He clarified that the unit in question did not arrive from the south but consisted of Egoz Unit fighters from the north, as part of a routine General Staff force deployment procedure.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, welcomed the court’s ruling: “Today the truth came to light, and the false spin against the settlement enterprise has completely collapsed. The judge’s decision, together with the Central Command chief’s testimony, proved beyond any doubt what we have said all along - no battalions were transferred from the south, and no special forces were stationed at the sukkah. This is an absolute lie intended to incite against the pioneers of Judea and Samaria. We demand that Dan Harel and all those who defamed us immediately apologize to the settlement community. The time has come to remove this unfounded accusation from the settlers who stand on the front lines, and to stop the delegitimization and incitement against them."