Israel Katz's West Bank settler plan not coordinated with IDF, may be blocked
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's proposal to shift authority over West Bank settler issues from the IDF to the police faces significant internal opposition. The plan lacks coordination with military leadership and may be legally blocked due to the IDF's status as the sovereign authority in the territory.
Why it matters
The proposal highlights ongoing tensions regarding the legal status of the West Bank and the division of power between Israeli security agencies and the military.
Defense Minister Israel Katz's announced proposal last week to transfer authority for handling extremist Jewish activists' problems from the IDF to the police was not coordinated with the relevant authorities and may yet be blocked, The Jerusalem Post has learned.Katz did not clear the issue with a number of top relevant IDF authorities before making the announcement, to the extent that until a meeting on Monday, many of them did not even understand what he was proposing.While Katz, in statements last week and on Monday, tried to present the change as a done deal, the Post understands that several issues could block his proposal from happening, limit its impact, or delay it for months.For years, the legal and operational situation in the West Bank has been messy.Under international law, no matter what Katz proposes, the IDF Central Command head is the “sovereign” over the West Bank and, at most, could…
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