Several officers and commanders were punished for two incidents. On one occasion, soldiers killed just two Arabs who were part of a raging crowd that attacked them during one of the West Bank’s regular riots. The Arabs were pelting the soldiers with rocks and firebombs.

In another incident, soldiers shot two Arabs who ran toward them with pitchforks and broken bottles.

The army does not deny that the Arabs constituted a clear and present danger to the soldiers. Halacha is clear: “The one who comes to kill you, kill him first.”

IDF Central Command has put together a task force of several companies which will be used exclusively to crack down on Jews in Samaria.

While the army does nothing against Palestinian saboteurs in the West Bank and allows them almost complete freedom of action, Jewish vigilantes defend their communities with price-tag attacks: Palestinian fields are burned in retaliation for Arabs burning Jewish fields. The army is going after these Jewish self-defense units.