An IDF investigation has found that Palestinian Authority security forces set up a checkpoint this week in Area C in the Binyamin Region, where they are not authorized to operate, and unlawfully detained IDF reservist Shlomo Rosenthal as he travelled on the so-called "Strongholds Route." According to the investigation's findings, the security forces arrested Rosenthal on their own initiative and only then handed him over to the IDF.
The findings disprove the initial version of the events, according to which the PA forces arrived to assist Rosenthal after he was assaulted due to immediate danger to him. The investigation supports the main points of Rosenthal's version, which he recounted to Arutz Sheva following the incident.
The incident occurred at the beginning of the week when Rosenthal left his home and traveled toward Route 443 via the "Strongholds Route." In an interview with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News, he said that when he reached the Beitunia Junction, he saw a police car and a roadblock, which he initially thought were Israeli. However, when he approached, the officers shouted that they were Palestinian Authority forces.
Rosenthal claims that the officers blocked his path, surrounded him, and subsequently attacked him. "At a certain point, one of them grabbed my arm, and when I was unable to defend myself, they all jumped on me, sprayed a can and a half of pepper spray at me, and kicked me in the face."
He also reported that after breaking his glasses and taking his phone, car keys, and gun, they removed him from the car, cuffed him, and placed him in their police car.
He rejected the initial claims that there was a gathering of Arabs at the scene from which the forces needed to rescue him.
From there, the officers drove for half an hour toward Ramallah until reaching the PA police station in the city. He said that he was not taken into the station and was later allowed to speak to an Israeli representative from COGAT, who told him that IDF forces would meet him. He was later transferred to IDF forces.
Rosenthal had already said at the time that reports claiming he had entered Palestinian territory and was rescued by Palestinian police officers were false. “That is a complete lie," he told Arutz Sheva, stressing that the Strongholds Route on which he was traveling is located in Area C and that he had driven on it before.
The IDF investigation has now determined that the roadblock was indeed set up in Area C and that the PA officers were operating there without authority. It also found that they unlawfully detained the reservist and had not arrived to protect him following an attack, as suggested by the initial account provided after the incident.
Only after the officers detained Rosenthal and removed him from the scene was he handed over to the IDF. The investigation’s conclusions therefore support his account on the central points disputed in the initial version provided by defense establishment and Civil Administration officials.
Rosenthal’s vehicle, which was taken from him during the incident, was later returned by the IDF and police. Following the incident, Rosenthal, through the Honenu legal advocacy organization’s Department for Victims of Hostile Acts, appealed to Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, demanding the arrest of the Palestinian Authority officers who attacked him.
Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Ganz welcomed the investigation’s findings: “We commend the IDF for the investigation, which confirms the testimony of the Binyamin resident who was abducted by Palestinian Authority security officers, beaten and had his weapon stolen. We thank Central Command chief Avi Bluth and the command’s personnel for establishing the facts."
Ganz demanded that practical measures also be taken following the investigation: “We must not settle for an investigation alone. This was an armed force of the enemy, the Palestinian Authority, that set up a roadblock within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel, abducted a soldier along with his weapon and transferred him to Palestinian Authority territory. A sovereign state cannot overlook such an incident."
“We expect the Israeli government to take meaningful action, not merely issue condemnations: immediately end coordination with the Palestinian Authority, arrest the Palestinian police officers involved and put them on trial in Israel. At the same time, the Civil Administration must conduct a thorough internal review into how such an incident was allowed to occur," he said.
“If we do not act now, attempts to erode Israeli sovereignty on the outskirts of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area will continue and intensify," Ganz warned. “We must not close our eyes and wait for the next disaster."