Thursday, June 12, 2014, 23:51 The incident started at about 21:00 Wednesday night in Yitzhar when soldiers suddenly parked an IDF surveillance Jeep in the middle of the road leading to the center of Yitzhar and opened the engine hood as if the Jeep was in need of repair. Residents of the community approached the Jeep in order to determine what the soldiers’ intent was and then realized that the “soldiers” were not soldiers but rather policemen in disguise. One of the details of the disguise that alerted the Yitzhar residents was the fact that the “soldiers” were not carrying rifles but were armed with pistols, hence the significance of the mention in the transcript of the Channel 10 news report below. Then some of the residents noticed cameras installed in the Jeep and realized that the police were attempting to cause a provocation in order to subsequently make detentions.
Please note that the song about sunflowers sung by Yitzhar residents relates to an incident which occurred in Hevron in June, 2013. Twenty sunflowers grown by a Jewish resident of the Adamot Yishai neighborhood of Hevron were damaged. The vandalism was throughly investigated by the Central Unit of Yehuda and Shomron Police, but only once they discovered that the perpetrators thought that they were vandalizing Arab property. The department of the police which investigates “Price Tag” incidents became known in some right-wing circles as the ‘Sunflower Police’ and a satirical song about the exaggerated and unwarranted attention given to minor incidents of vandalism was written.
Channel 10 (Israeli) News reported on the failed attempt by the police to create a provocation in Yitzhar. Translation by Honenu of the transcript.
Announcer: “This was an ambush that the police detectives won’t forget for a long time.”
Yitzhar resident to “soldiers”: “What’s going on, brothers? Are you stuck again? What, in the same place?”
Announcer: “Disguised as IDF soldiers in the Jeep, detectives from the Yehuda and Shomron Police staged an engine failure.”
Yitzhar resident: “What a nice ambush. Policemen with pistols disguised as soldiers in order to instigate an incident.”
Announcer: “The purpose of the ambush was to catch right-wing activists red-handed as they attacked an army Jeep in Yitzhar.”
Yitzhar resident: “Next time disguise yourselves better and don’t copy exactly what you did two weeks ago. Do you understand?”
Announcer: “Several times during the past few months [similar ambushes] ended with punctured tires and physical assault. This time the right-wing activists identified the ‘bait’ and also the cameras installed on the windows [of the army Jeep].”
Yitzhar resident: “Here’s a camera inside, focused.”
Another Yitzhar resident to police: “The ambush failed. What a bummer.”
Announcer: “Yitzhar residents celebrate the temporary victory over the police detectives known by right-wingers as ‘sunflowers’.”
[Yitzhar residents sing the ‘Sunflower Police’ song.]
“The ‘Sunflower Police’ detain girls
…
And we all laugh at the ‘Sunflower Police’”
Announcer: “The detectives understand that the ambush has been revealed and within minutes police vehicles appear suddenly. The Savana vans were waiting in the settlement in order to to take away youths caught in the act. Now the detectives are only looking for the way out, preferably with as little humiliation as possible.”
Yitzhar resident: “HaRav Yossi, come, come and see what a laugh this is. Come and see what a joke. Suddenly a disabled Jeep can move.”
Another Yitzhar resident: “It [the ambush] didn’t work. It didn’t work.”
Additional Yitzhar resident to driver trying to leave: “I’ll direct you.”
Yitzhar resident to police: “Maybe next time. Maybe next time it will work.”
Announcer: “In Yitzhar they estimate that the reason for the ambush is the fate of Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai which was taken over by security forces. This evening Defense Minister Ya’alon extended the seizure warrant by three months.”
Honenu attorney Adi Kedar: “Once more the police are initiating provocations in order to push young people, settlers, into injuring security forces. I think that the police should leave the settlers in peace.”
Announcer: “The battle of the brains between “Price Tag” activists and the police forces has been going on for years already. Yesterday ended with a loss for the detectives of the Yehuda and Shomron Police. It is only a question of time when the next round will be.”
Yitzhar resident to police: “What happened? How was it to fail? What a bummer. Be original. Tell [police commander] Jerbi to use a bit of originality.”
Announcer: “And here is the response of the police and the IDF: ‘The security forces operate in Yehuda and Shomron in order to maintain law and order. Understandably we will not specify what the operations are.’”