A reserve force stationed in the Gush Etzion area conducted a drill simulating riots by Israelis, Israel Hayom has exclusively learned.
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The exercise took place Wednesday in Beit Habracha (Beit Al-Baraka), near the Al-Arroub refugee camp. Troops participating in the simulation were outraged over what they considered a far-fetched scenario.
Video: A video of the drill simulating Jewish riots / Credit: Usage under Section 27a of Israel intellectual property law
The situation that was imagined for the drill included dozens of Israeli demonstrators rioting near the gas station in Beit Habracha. The forces were told to act as if they were responding to the situation and to arrive at the scene with balaclavas. The simulation also talks about Palestinians opening fire and injuring a settler
The scenario raised more than a few eyebrows, partly because it simulates an extremely extreme situation that has never occurred in the area, while the more plausible scenario – an attempted attack by Palestinian terrorists – was not the main focus.
"It seems illogical to me that at a time when the main threat to the communities here is an attack like the one on October 7, they are preparing an imaginary scenario of an Israelis' disruption. The concept is still here," said one of the soldiers who witnessed the exercise.
In February, the IDF conducted a divisional exercise in which they simulated an extremely extreme scenario in which settlers kidnapped a Palestinian. The IDF then apologized for the incident, and reserve fighters in the area even sent letters of apology to the communities in the area.
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