Israeli general praises illegal outposts driving Palestinian ethnic cleansing The Israeli military commander responsible for the occupied West Bank has praised illegal settler outposts as security assets, laying bare the state support behind a network instrumental in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land. Major-General Avi Bluth, head of Israel’s Central Command, told a conference organised by the Farm Union on Wednesday that the agricultural outposts “align well with the security concept. “It integrates with it, provided that this is also reflected in operational conduct, as well as ethical conduct, and in accordance with the law,” he said.
Like every Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory, the outposts are illegal under international law. They are also illegal under Israeli law. "This indicates a complete submersion of settlements and these farms, as he calls them, but what they are violent, radical posts, they're not even outposts, they are posts, and as he says, they serve the IDF [Israeli army] agendas in that they control the tactical territory that the IDF can't," said Ori Goldberg, an independent Israeli analyst and political commentator speaking to Middle East Eye.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Bluth, himself a settler, went further. “All of this greatly strengthens security,” the commander said. “I have great faith in the people here.
I look each and every one of you straight in the eye. I love you, I appreciate you and I appreciate what you do.” One message in English, another in Hebrew The remarks also puncture Israel’s carefully managed narrative abroad. When addressing international audiences, Israeli leaders depict violent settlers as an unruly fringe.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described attackers as “a small minority” who do not represent the wider settler population. An illegal Israeli outpost set up next to Umm al-Khair in West Bank, immediately separating villagers from their land.
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