Palestinian police's rescue of Israeli soldiers from an angry mob in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday brought heavy public criticism among Palestinian residents in the West Bank.
The Israeli soldiers got lost and entered Palestinian Authority territory on accident. They found themselves trapped, facing an angry mob of local Palestinians.
While sources in the Palestinian Authority's security establishment said the rescue was proof of the successful security coordination with Israel, a social media campaign against the police began. Some users dubbed these police officers traitors.
Other users wrote that the rescue prevented the Palestinians from boasting images hearkening back to a similar incident 18 years ago, in which two IDF reservists, Cpl. Vadim Nurzhitz and Sgt. Yossi Avrahami, got lost and ended up driving into the outskirts of Ramallah. They were brought to a police station in Ramallah where they were brutally beaten to death by a mob. A photograph of a Palestinian showing their blood on his hands became an iconic image of the Second Intifada.
"Had the Palestinian police arrived a few minutes later, it's doubtful the soldiers would still be alive," a senior Palestinian security official told Israel Hayom.
"Even before the soldiers were attacked by the angry mob that surrounded the military vehicle and prevented it from being driven," he said, "one of the Palestinian policemen at the scene offered to drive the military vehicle to save them. The soldiers asked for approval from their commanders, but their hesitation allowed dozens of angry Palestinians to attack their vehicle with stones, chairs and metal bars while shattering the vehicle's windows and causing injury to the female soldier and the theft of her weapon."
According to the Palestinian official, the policeman's decision to open fire and shoot in the air to distance the mob and allow the military vehicle to escape, although it saved the lives of the soldiers, put the policeman's life in jeopardy at the hands of the locals.
Palestinian security authorities stressed that the identity of the attackers and the thieves who stole the weapon is known and that contacts are being made for the weapon to be released. Despite this, PA officials hope the IDF can contain the event and give the credit to the Palestinian security forces.
"This is not the first time, and apparently not the last, that Palestinian security authorities will save Israeli civilians and soldiers trapped in PA territory," the Palestinian official said. "Time after time, Palestinian authorities prove that they can control the area and prevent harm to Israelis, primarily soldiers. The Israeli security establishment recognizes the importance of the security coordination, and the time has come for the politicians to understand just how important keeping the security collaboration is for both sides."
