Following the attack in Hermesh: The settlers demand that the checkpoints be manned (Headquarters of the Struggle "Zero Terrorist Incidents")
About a week after the shooting attack in which Meir Tamari was murdered from the community of Hermesh in northern Samaria, local residents continue to demand that the IDF man the checkpoints in the area, and as a sign of protest, are preparing for the possibility that they will have to block the roads themselves, in the coming days. According to residents living in nearby communities, the checkpoint through which the terrorists penetrated unhindered has reopened to Palestinian traffic. In Tamari's settlement, Hermesh, they accuse the IDF of abandoning their lives - and declare: "We will not be ducks at the shooting range, if the army does not block the road - we will block it with our bodies."
The checkpoint that residents of nearby communities are referring to is located a few dozen meters from the site of the attack in which Tamari was murdered. It was recently abandoned and closed by the IDF after the murder. This morning, at the end of the swearing-in, the checkpoint was opened to Palestinian traffic. This is in addition to the intermittent deployment of IDF forces near it.
Benjamin Horgan, the father-in-law of Meir Tamari, whose wife, Esther Horgan, was murdered in one of the worst terror attacks in Samaria three years ago, arrived this morning at the checkpoint near Hermesh and protested the army's conduct: "Exactly a week after Meir's murder, I am here at the scene of the murder and here the checkpoint is open, driving freely here, as if nothing happened. Although there are soldiers guarding here, they look at the cars passing by and that's it, we can't let it pass on the agenda."
Checkpoint near the settlement of Hermesh (Photo: official website, Headquarters of the Zero Terrorist Incidents Campaign)
"I am very disappointed in the IDF and the government," Shaked Levy, a resident of Hermesh, attacked this morning. "Their conduct since the attack shows that our lives have been forsaken. At seven o'clock they promised us that the checkpoint through which the terrorists came would be closed for at least two weeks, but it was already opened yesterday. The promise that soldiers would be stationed there at all hours of the day was also broken during the swearing-in. Residents who went down to the intersection at night noticed more than once or twice that the posts were empty. All this is happening despite the fact that it is clear to all of us that if there had been soldiers at the checkpoint, Meir would not have been murdered."
"This lawlessness, which stems from Noel's desire to please the United States and all countries in the world at the expense of our security, is shameful and dangerous. We're tired of talk and promises, we've been selling it for twenty years. We demand actions on the ground," Levy added.
Michael Avitan, a resident of the community of Shaked, also joined Levy's statement, and spoke about the criticism on the ground that also comes from the fighters themselves: "Despite the army's explicit promises, Arab vehicles continue to pass through the checkpoint. Even the Arabs who are checked from time to time by the pair of soldiers stationed there barely undergo brief questioning and superficial inspections."
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Location of the checkpoint near Hermesh
Shaked Levy (Photo: official website, Headquarters of the Struggle "Zero Terrorist Incidents")
Michael Avitan (Photo: official website, Zero Terrorist Incidents Campaign Headquarters)
Avitan stressed, "I have no complaints about the soldiers who do their job with tremendous dedication. On the contrary, they also expressed resentment to me at the instructions they received, but the instructions from the higher echelons are to leave the checkpoint open absurdly."
"This is a vital checkpoint of the first order, located a few dozen meters from the place where Meir Tamari was murdered, and through which the terrorists arrived unhindered," he said. To leave the situation almost as it was would mean abandoning the lives of the residents of northern Samaria."
"Since the attack, we haven't rested," added Ilya Shadrov, a resident of Hermesh, "Every day in the early morning we go down to the checkpoint near the site of the attack to make sure and act that the IDF closes the checkpoint, we even slept at the junction to make sure the checkpoint is closed. We've been through a lot of terror attacks here in Hermesh already, and we've decided that's it, we don't move on to the agenda anymore."
Meir Tamari, who was murdered in the shooting attack in the community of Hermesh in Samaria, together with his wife and children (photo: photo processing, courtesy of the family)
Shadrov described that "we knew in advance that all the talk by the army and the approval it gave us to stay in the field during the shiva were only to create an illusion and release public pressure in order to restore the situation to its previous state without solving the problem at its root."
"Indeed, when the shiva ended, the army opened the checkpoint, and only when we got to the area each time did the soldiers close the gate and begin to carry out inspections. Just like a cat-and-mouse game: we go, they open - we come back and the barrier returns. It's sad and shameful that this is how the IDF operates, but if that's what is necessary, we will continue to create the necessary pressure that will force the army to return the checkpoint and carry out a strict inspection of every vehicle."
Shadrov went on to describe the difficult feelings among the residents: "Since the terrible attack, people feel that their lives here are abandoned. We can't go on like this and none of us plans to move on to the agenda. If the military doesn't block the road, we'll block it with our bodies. None of the residents of northern Samaria will be a duck at this range of the next vehicle that passes through the checkpoint and carries out the next attack."
The scene of the attack at the entrance to Hermesh (Photo: official website, Samaria Regional Council)
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The headquarters of the "Zero Terrorist Incidents" campaign, which is behind the protests in Judea and Samaria against terrorism, said in response: "An attack follows an attack, more residents are murdered on their way home, but the IDF refuses to change the diskette and insists on returning to routine without dealing deeply with the growing terrorism. The opening of the checkpoint in Hermesh, a week after a serious attack carried out under cover of lawlessness at the checkpoint, is a new record of disregard for the lives of the residents."
"The residents of the communities in Judea and Samaria chose the right-wing government to stop the wave of attacks and implement a determined and firm policy against the nests of terror. We call on the right-wing ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich and Galant to come to their senses and immediately order the erection of checkpoints at all exits from Arab villages and cities, and the launch of a comprehensive and rooted operation until the goal of zero terrorist incidents in Judea and Samaria is achieved," the campaign headquarters added.
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