Photo: Policeman disguised as Arab, Adei Ad 2015; Photo credit, Tatzpit News Agency
Tuesday, December 31, 2019, 18:49 On Tuesday, December 31, in a dangerous incident that could have ended with disastrous results, two policeman disguised as Arab technicians entered the community of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion and wandered around the area of the kindergartens, waiting for a reaction from the residents.
The unexpected presence of the “technicians” raised the suspicions of two youths walking past the site. The youths approached the “technicians” and tried to find out the reason for their being in Bat Ayin. The “technicians”, who appeared to be Arabs, did not answer clearly, which increased the youths’ suspicions. At some point the “technicians” and one of the youths started to shove each other. A third youth, who noticed that a friend of his was being attacked, rushed to defend him with pepper spray.
The disguised policemen, along with other policemen who had been concealing themselves nearby, grabbed the youths. Two of the youths, both of them minors, were detained and taken for interrogation to the Central Unit of Yehuda and Shomron Police.
Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski, who is representing the youths: “Unfortunately the Israeli Police has again instigated incitement. Policemen disguised as Arab technicians entered the community of Bat Ayin – and as everyone knows the security situation is currently tense – in the area of the kindergartens where children play freely without security guards. The unexpected presence of what seemed to be technicians, who according to my clients did not appear to have any idea what their job was, raised the suspicions of the youths who were at the scene. They surmised that there was a security risk and they tried to verify the matter. They approached the ‘technicians’, who did not respond clearly, which increased their suspicions.
“It is not clear why the Israeli Police is instigating acts of incitement, especially since security is currently tense and there is a constant concern that a terrorist will infiltrate the community. But instead of focusing on eradicating crime the Israeli Police are devoting resources to acts of incitement.”
A similar incident occurred in Bat Ayin in August 2017. The police brought three buses driven by Arabs to the community of Bat Ayin in the Etzion Bloc, which were parked for a long time in the center of the community in an apparent attempt by the police to provoke youths into clashing with the drivers. Several plain-clothes police detectives and policemen sat in every bus and nearby Yassam (special forces) and other policemen were waiting. See here for more details, including an account of policemen beating two detained minors in front of one of their fathers, who is handicapped and wheelchair-bound.
Honenu would also like to call to our readers’ attention that the courts and the public have in the past severely criticized the use of soldiers disguised as Arabs in order provoke reactions from Jews. The Yehuda and Shomron Police have staged such incidents in Havat Gilad, Susiya, Havat Har Sinai, Givat Ronen, Kochav HaShahar, Adei Ad (see photo above), Geulat Tzion and elsewhere in the Shilo Bloc region.