IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir suspended the 914th Netzah Yehuda Battalion from operations within the West Bank on Sunday, the IDF introduced after troopers from the battalion accosted a NCS news crew, injuring one and damaging digicam gear on Friday.
Following an investigation into the incident, Zamir determined to undertake the commanders’ suggestions, and the battalion’s operational deployment will probably be suspended till it has undergone “a process aimed at reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations,” the IDF wrote.
The IDF added that its resumption will probably be topic to the choice of IDF Central Command Chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and extra command measures will probably be applied at a later stage.
The battalion got here below scrutiny after troopers approached a NCS news team on Friday throughout an interview with Palestinian residents of the West Bank city of Nablus, telling each the NCS reporters and Palestinians to cease talking.
In a video launched by NCS, the IDF troopers strategy with weapons pointed instantly on the news team, telling the crew to get down. Shortly after, the digicam footage grew shaky when, in line with NCS, their photojournalist was put in a chokehold.
Soldiers mentioned their sympathies in direction of settler extremists with the NCS crew on digicam, stating that the entire West Bank belonged to the Jewish folks and the state of Israel.
Others stated that that they had a private motive, talking of searching for revenge for Yehuda Sherman, an 18-year-old settler who was killed by a Palestinian driver.
“If you had a brother and they killed him, what would you have done?” a soldier requested a NCS reporter.
Following the incident, the IDF launched a press release saying that “the actions and behavior of the soldiers in the incident are incompatible with what is expected of IDF soldiers operating in the Judea and Samaria area.”