The Settlers’ Brigade Commander
A settler scuffles with Israeli soldiers while peace activists attempt to open a road near the Israeli Jewish settlement of Mitzpe Yair, in the West Bank
The Judea and Samaria Division has identified several key sites from which settlers launch attacks on Palestinians. The most notable falls under the responsibility of the Samaria Brigade’s commander, Col. Roi Zweig, who is now completing his second year on the job.
The list of incidents in his sector includes dozens of settlers attacking Palestinians in the village of Qusra; a 2-month-old baby who was pepper-sprayed near Sebastia; settlers starting a brawl with Palestinians in the village of Urif, throwing stones at a local mosque and breaking its windows; and settlers entering a café in Hawara, vandalizing the property and destroying merchandise.
Moreover, two of the most significant incidents to have occurred in the West Bank in recent years took place in Zweig’s sector – the establishment of the settlement outpost of Evyatar and the entrenchment of a yeshiva on the site of the evacuated settlement of Homesh.
Zweig is additional proof of a dangerous process that the army is undergoing. A few months ago, he gave a messianic speech to soldiers before they entered Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus to provide security for its renovation after it was vandalized by Palestinians. Moreover, the operation was conducted in violation of an order by the head of the army’s Central Command, under pressure from opposition Knesset members and the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan.
Yet even though Zweig violated an order, gave in to political pressure from MKs and settlers and endangered lives for no reason, he wasn’t punished. Therefore, it’s no wonder that in Elon Moreh last month, he unveiled his warped worldview that the army and the settlers are one and the same. In that case, he was asked to explain his actions, but the incident ended with nothing but a comment in his personnel file.
The above article is Haaretz’s lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.