Palestinian police abduct, beat IDF reservist in Israeli-controlled territory

Palestinian Authority police officers illegally operating in Area C abducted an IDF reserve soldier and seized his firearm.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Palestinian Authority police illegally took an Israeli army reservist into custody and confiscated his military-issued rifle overnight Monday while he was traveling on the Beitunia bypass road in the western Binyamin district in Samaria, according to the Binyamin Regional Council, which called the incident a serious violation of existing security arrangements.

The reservist was traveling toward the Dolev-Talmonim bloc when he encountered Palestinian Authority police officers on a section of the road located in Area C, the council said.

The reservist was forced to stop at an illegal roadblock set up by the PA police.

The PA officers took the reservist into custody and seized his IDF-issued weapon.

He was transported to a police station in Ramallah, where he was beaten and sprayed with pepper spray, the reservist said, before he was released.

According to the agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, PA police have no authority to independently operate at the location, since it is in Area C, where Israel retains full security control under the arrangements established under the Oslo Accords.

According to the council, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration – which manages Area C – focused on the reservist’s decision to drive on the road, which the administration considers dangerous, rather than on the illegal presence of armed Palestinian police in Area C.

The council protested the Civil Administration’s handling of the incident and called on Israeli security agencies to secure roads constructed for Israeli communities in the region and to prevent unauthorized PA security activity in the area.

Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Israel Gantz said the encounter demonstrated what he described as the collapse of the framework established by the Oslo agreements.

“The serious incident last night proves once again that the Oslo Accords have long since become an empty piece of paper,” Gantz said.

“It is inconceivable that Abu Mazen’s [PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas] police officers act contrary to the agreements in Area C, detain a reserve soldier and take his weapon — and the State of Israel instead blames the Israeli who drove on the road.”

Gantz called for Israel to formally abandon the Oslo Accords and to permit unrestricted Israeli movement and development across open areas of Judea and Samaria.

“It is time to recognize reality, cancel the Oslo Accords and allow settlement and free movement in the open areas throughout Binyamin, Judea and Samaria,” he said.

“At the same time, I call on decision-makers to act immediately to open a safe and secured route between the Dolev-Talmonim bloc and Route 443.”

The road at the center of Monday’s incident has been the subject of a long-running dispute between residents of western Binyamin and Israeli defense officials.

Before the Oslo process, residents of Dolev, Talmon and surrounding communities traveled toward Jerusalem on a relatively short route passing near Ramallah and Beitunia.

After Ramallah and Beitunia came under Palestinian Authority control in the 1990s, Israel constructed the Beitunia bypass to provide an alternative route for Israelis.

Israeli authorities closed the bypass to Israeli civilian traffic following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, citing the danger to travelers and the manpower that would be required to protect the route.

The closure substantially lengthened travel from the Dolev-Talmonim area toward Jerusalem and Route 443.

In a 2009 case brought by the communities of Dolev, Talmon, Neria and Nahliel, the Supreme Court declined to order the military to reopen the road, accepting the security establishment’s assessment that allowing Israeli traffic there would pose unacceptable risks.

The issue returned to the political agenda this year.

In January, Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Defense Ministry and IDF to begin staff work examining the possibility of reopening the Beitunia bypass after a meeting with Gantz.

Local leaders argued that reopening the route would both improve security and cut approximately 20 minutes from travel in each direction for residents of western Binyamin.

Several months later, hundreds of Israeli residents began using the old route on their own initiative, according to an i24NEWS report.

The IDF subsequently began blocking Israeli drivers from entering it, reportedly because the army lacked sufficient forces to provide permanent security along the road.

The dispute highlights an unusual situation in which an Area C road remains under Israeli security jurisdiction but is nevertheless regarded by Israeli authorities as unsafe for regular Israeli civilian traffic.

Under the Oslo II agreement, the Judea and Samaria region was divided into Areas A, B and C.

The Palestinian Authority assumed internal security and civil responsibilities in Area A and responsibility for Palestinian civil administration in Area B, while Israel retained overriding security responsibility in Area B.

Area C remained under full Israeli security control and civil administration.

PA security personnel therefore are barred from conducting independent armed police operations in Area C without coordination with Israeli authorities.

Judea and SamariaPalestinian AuthorityPalestinian police