Two weeks ago, Arab rioters climbed the hill to the Nahalat Zvi, blocked the sole access road, and threw rocks at the young men living there. Since that day, those harassing the Nahalat Zvi community have been Israeli Border Police officers, not local Arabs.
On that day in late November, it took an hour for residents and soldiers to chase the Arabs back to their village. Shortly afterward, the commander of the Binyamin Regional Brigade, Colonel Eliav Elbaz, arrived at the scene and was approached by the worried victims who came to him looking for answers.
“Where are you from?” Colonel Elbaz asked, to which the residents replied that they were from Nahalat Zvi. Claiming he never hear of Nahalat Zvi, Elbaz threatened to return with a D9 bulldozer and “demolish everything.” In addition, residents report they are being subjected regularly to “an unprecedented campaign of harassment” along with violent raids and arrests by Border Police.
This is exactly what we hope to see come to an end with Israel’s new government and we expect no less than a complete stop to treating Jewish residents like terrorists.