After meeting with the security officer to discuss the events that occurred, the battalion commander of the Benjamin Regional Council area of Shomron, an officer of the rank of colonel, decided to dismiss the security officer of the communities of Beit Aryeh and Ofarim after it was established that he was among those taking part in preventing Civil Administration inspectors from entering the community on December 2nd. The inspectors arrived as part of Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s stepped-up enforcement of the 10-month construction freeze throughout Yehuda and Shomron.

The security officer of the communities is officially an employee of the Defense Ministry and is under the command of military commanders despite the fact the position is a civilian post.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)