The heads of the settlements in Judea and Samaria reacted with great anger to a report in the New York Times in the United States, according to which the American administration does not want some of the thousands of M-16 assault rifles that Israel purchased to reach settlers in Judea and Samaria for fear that it could set fire to the entire "West Bank."
Galant to the families of the abductees: "Hamas will try to hurt us with psychological warfare, there will be no lull in the fire without the return of the hostages" // Ariel Hermoni Ministry of Defense
"The American demand not to provide weapons to the alert squads of the Judea and Samaria authorities is anything but 'great friendship,'" Yesha Council Chairman Shlomo Ne'eman said in response to a promise not to transfer M16 rifles to the alert squads in the settlement.
"Over half a million residents of Judea and Samaria face daily terrorist attacks, incitement calls from mosques to massacre us, and only last Thursday we lost Elhanan Klein in a shooting attack.
"Blood libel by B'Tselem and Yesh Din"
Judea and Samaria notes that the culprits for the erroneous image, they claim, of the settlers are left-wing organizations operating in the region and reporting to bodies abroad. "At a time when our best sons are fighting in Gaza, we are subjected to vicious attacks of blood libels against our residents by extreme left-wing organizations such as B'Tselem and Yesh Din. Instead of an airlift equipping the alert squads to defend against enemy attack, we are denied the right to defend ourselves and our children. This false and irresponsible campaign, God forbid, will cost blood."
"They won't differentiate between blood and blood here"
Samaria Council head Yossi Dagan also addressed the report. "Someone here got confused," Dagan said. "The residents of Judea and Samaria are in immense danger. The fear is that what happened in the south will happen in Judea and Samaria communities adjacent to the Palestinian villages of the terrorist Palestinian Authority."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir next to weapons distributed in Ashkelon, photo: Reuters
"We must not surrender to a campaign that slanders half a million citizens of the State of Israel. At a time when 80% of the men in Judea and Samaria are enlisted and entire families are left alone, in concern for the father of the family, they need to hear and see the leaders of this country encouraging the blood libel campaign that blackens the settlers instead of denying it. I demand that the prime minister now inform the Americans that weapons will be given to all soldiers, including those living in Judea and Samaria. They will not differentiate between blood and blood here."
The "Martial Doctrine" organization said in response, "If the report is true, it is a national disgrace, and a knife in the back in wartime. It turns out that the anti-Semitic campaign of 'settler violence,' which is intended entirely to cover up the Nazi Arabs who support Hamas in the heart of our country, is reaching a stage: the stage of surrendering to anti-Semitic elements in the US administration."
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