IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott last week stated “A soldier does not have to empty an entire magazine on a 13-year-old girl with a pair of scissors”, referring to the response to young Arab terrorists who have been carrying out terror attacks against Israelis in recent months.

Among the critics of the IDF commander is Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, who is quick to point out that for one thing, no one has mentioned in any media forum that such an incident never occurred. He explained that despite the alarming reality that 14-year-olds have become murderers, not just with scissors, there is not a single case in which a soldier or policeman emptied an entire magazine of his weapon and in many of the cases, the terrorists were only wounded, and then treated or in some cases, taken into custody unharmed.

He adds that in the stabbing attack on Jaffa Street near Machane Yehuda in Yerushalayim, two Arab girls, 14 and 16 planned to murder innocent civilians in the heart of Jerusalem with scissors. The policeman who neutralized the situation did so at risk to himself but acted appropriately and without hesitation.

“I do not wish to criticize the IDF Chief of Staff because I was not present for the discussion, and I do not know in which context the remarks were made” Erdan stated, going on to praise the fortitude of Israelis during recent months, standing firm in light of the ongoing wave of terrorism. He also praised police and IDF soldiers, whom have prevented many additional attacks, placing themselves in harm’s way, sometimes falling victim to these terrorists.

“Instead of exalting the Israeli heroism, heroism that contains restraint and courage and instead of debating the ongoing inconceivable incitement from the PA (Palestinian Authority) that causes the young Palestinians to become willing to kill girls, pregnant women and passersby with a knife, we are entrenched in a meaningless debate on a matter which is not the heart of the dispute” he added.

Others who spoke out against Eizenkott were angered, accusing him of intimating soldiers and police have not be acting appropriately when in fact, they are to be praised for their actions in recent months.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)