Elisha Yered, who was arrested over the weekend following the deadly clash in the Palestinian town of Burqa, was interviewed about a month and a half ago by Israel Hayom and explained his extremist views.
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The 22-year-old, who did not serve in the IDF, has been arrested several times on suspicion of carrying out violent acts. He has long lamented that the security forces are not doing enough to protect the residents of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.
Video: Mourners bid farewell to Palestinian killed by Jewish settlers in West Bank / Credit: Reuters
When confronted with the claim by some military officials that he has been staging provocations that only make things worse, he told Israel Hayom, "This is just a depraved statement," adding, "I have heard it over and over again; it is very easy to blame the victim and accuse us of inflaming tensions. Even if we do inflame, then yes, this is how we do it; the IDF just have to put up with it, it should go on the offensive against the Palestinian village."
Q: What do you think about the attack on Turmus Ayya [a town near Ramallah where settlers set homes and cars ablaze recently]?
"You have to look at it as part of the overall reality. Under the command of the current GOC Central Command, there are pushovers and leftists, and there is also a government that is too reluctant and doesn't do much. Yes, that also needs to be said. There is a security reality here where people feel that they have been forsaken, and this leads people to commit acts. The only culprit for what is happening here in the field is the defense establishment. If this is the body that is supposed to provide security, then Israel has gone haywire. An increasing number of people have been passively and actively supporting actions like those of Turmus Ayya. If you ask me - this is really not the ideal."
Q: Do you support the violence in Turmus Ayya?
"Whoever does such things does it because they feel that they have been left to their own devices. On the one hand, he may risk being condemned and violating the law, but on the other hand, his life and that of his children are at stake. It is preferable to have those family members protected alive than to have them praised following their death."
Q: But do these attacks on Turmus Ayya have to do with the recent attack, whose perpetrator came from Nablus [referring to an attack carried out just before the interview was carried out over a month ago]?
"This village is a village defined by murder, where an accessory to a terrorist was elected as mayor. Secondly, in war, you don't fight against individuals – you fight against an enemy, and against an enemy, there is also collective punishment."
Q: If everyone does collective punishment, this will turn Israel into Lebanon.
"True, it's bad. The military is tasked with defense, but it doesn't do the defense, so yes – Jews have to defend themselves on their own. Sometimes people decide to attack and sometimes they decide to deter with less pleasant and less nice methods."
The full interview with Yered will be published this weekend.
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