A case of mistaken judgment? Questions remain unanswered in the wake of the Friday afternoon anti-partition protest during which IDF soldiers shot live fire and wounded two protestors. On the one hand, some of the protestors were masked and others appeared to be attempting to force open the gate "so that the Palestinian farmers could reach their fields"- an act that would justify the soldiers' use of fire to prevent infiltrators from crossing into Jewish-populated territory. On the other hand, it is currently not clear why the soldiers did not use other means of disbanding the protest, such as tear gas or rubber bullets.
The incident began on Friday afternoon when some 100 people, members of groups such as the rabid left-wing International Solidarity Movement, Israeli Anarchists, and others gathered near the partition wall not far from the Jewish community of Elkanah in the Shomron. They were equipped with wire cutters and began trying to cut and damage the fence. The International Solidarity Movement released a statement on Friday night admitting coordination between Israelis and Arabs in "physically dismantling the locking mechanism in order to open the gate."
The two who were shot were Gil Naamati, 23, of Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev, and an American female tourist. Naamati, son of the head of the Eshkol Regional Council, was seriously wounded in the legs, but his condition was stabilized over the weekend.
The injured woman says that she didn't even know what she was doing there. She said that she paid 18 shekels to participate in a tour of the area, and did not expect to find herself in the midst of an extreme left-wing demonstration.
Last night, some 300 left-wing demonstrators protested outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv against the incident. Ten of the protestors were arrested for violent behavior.
Arutz-7's military affairs correspondent Kobi Finkler reports that the rush to criticize and attack the soldiers is termed "chutzpah" by top security sources. "These are soldiers who are guarding the partition against dozens of daily intelligence warnings of terrorist attacks," the sources said. "People come there every few days with one purpose only: to clash with IDF soldiers. They don't understand the simple fact that via these holes in the fence and during these riots, terrorists sometimes try to infiltrate inside. No one can be sure that among the demonstrators are no terrorists. On Friday, there were no fewer than 52 terrorist warnings, including some from that area. The soldiers received orders accordingly - and now look how they are being treated."
Arutz-7's Arab-affairs commentator Haggai Huberman wrote in HaTzofeh this morning that the army has nothing to be ashamed of regarding what occurred on Friday. "The shooting was totally justified," he wrote. "In fact, the soldiers would have been derelict in their duties had they not fired - because the partition fence is designed, first and foremost, to prevent the infiltration of PA Arabs into Israeli territory. The protestors tried to destroy the fence and break in to Israeli territory... Even the PA news agency noted clearly that the 'activists arrived equipped with tools to break down the gate and allow free entry for the residents of the village of Mes'ha to their lands.' Breaking down the fence endangers Israeli citizens."
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon, who visited the injured Naamati in the hospital, said that the fence "protects the people of Israel," but added that the incident on Friday was "grave" and will be investigated.
As the day wore on, more and more sources joined those criticizing the army's actions on Friday, including President Moshe Katzav and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The incident began on Friday afternoon when some 100 people, members of groups such as the rabid left-wing International Solidarity Movement, Israeli Anarchists, and others gathered near the partition wall not far from the Jewish community of Elkanah in the Shomron. They were equipped with wire cutters and began trying to cut and damage the fence. The International Solidarity Movement released a statement on Friday night admitting coordination between Israelis and Arabs in "physically dismantling the locking mechanism in order to open the gate."
The two who were shot were Gil Naamati, 23, of Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev, and an American female tourist. Naamati, son of the head of the Eshkol Regional Council, was seriously wounded in the legs, but his condition was stabilized over the weekend.
The injured woman says that she didn't even know what she was doing there. She said that she paid 18 shekels to participate in a tour of the area, and did not expect to find herself in the midst of an extreme left-wing demonstration.
Last night, some 300 left-wing demonstrators protested outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv against the incident. Ten of the protestors were arrested for violent behavior.
Arutz-7's military affairs correspondent Kobi Finkler reports that the rush to criticize and attack the soldiers is termed "chutzpah" by top security sources. "These are soldiers who are guarding the partition against dozens of daily intelligence warnings of terrorist attacks," the sources said. "People come there every few days with one purpose only: to clash with IDF soldiers. They don't understand the simple fact that via these holes in the fence and during these riots, terrorists sometimes try to infiltrate inside. No one can be sure that among the demonstrators are no terrorists. On Friday, there were no fewer than 52 terrorist warnings, including some from that area. The soldiers received orders accordingly - and now look how they are being treated."
Arutz-7's Arab-affairs commentator Haggai Huberman wrote in HaTzofeh this morning that the army has nothing to be ashamed of regarding what occurred on Friday. "The shooting was totally justified," he wrote. "In fact, the soldiers would have been derelict in their duties had they not fired - because the partition fence is designed, first and foremost, to prevent the infiltration of PA Arabs into Israeli territory. The protestors tried to destroy the fence and break in to Israeli territory... Even the PA news agency noted clearly that the 'activists arrived equipped with tools to break down the gate and allow free entry for the residents of the village of Mes'ha to their lands.' Breaking down the fence endangers Israeli citizens."
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon, who visited the injured Naamati in the hospital, said that the fence "protects the people of Israel," but added that the incident on Friday was "grave" and will be investigated.
As the day wore on, more and more sources joined those criticizing the army's actions on Friday, including President Moshe Katzav and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.