Settlers clash with Israeli troops in West Bank

[December 13, 2011]  JERUSALEM (AP) -- Dozens of Israeli settlers entered an army base in the West Bank early Tuesday and lit fires, damaged vehicles and threw stones at a senior officer, the military said, in a sign of growing animosity between Jewish extremists and soldiers guarding the settlements.

About 50 people took part in the rioting, vandalizing vehicles with paint and nails and throwing stones at the district commander, who was not seriously hurt, the military said in a statement.

Troops subsequently dispersed the rioters and two people were in custody, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The incident came only hours after a different group of settlers entered a closed military zone along the West Bank's border with Jordan, crossing the border fence into no-man's land and taking over an abandoned structure near a Christian baptism site on the Jordan River. Israeli security forces removed them, and police said all 17 people involved in the incident were arrested.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incident at the base and ordered security forces to "act aggressively against those harming Israeli soldiers and their commanders," according to a statement from his office.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the incidents "homegrown terror" and said they "threaten to damage the delicate relations Israel has with its neighbors."

Settler leaders also condemned the incidents. Dani Dayan, who heads a settler umbrella group, said those responsible "must turn themselves in and if not, they must be arrested and tried."

The Israeli news site Ynet said the settlers were protesting the planned evacuations of unauthorized settlement outposts. In recent years, some Israeli settlers have taken to vandalizing military or Palestinian property to protest Israeli government policy, a tactic they term "price tag."

There are about 300,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank, among some 2.5 million Palestinians.

In the incident along the Jordan border, Israeli media reported that the activists were protesting the Jordanian government's attempt to halt an Israeli plan to renovate a pedestrian walkway in Jerusalem's Old City.

The walkway, which leads up to the holy compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, has been declared unsafe by municipal officials in Jerusalem and was closed on Sunday. The walkway is the only access point for Jews, meaning that Jews cannot currently access the compound, revered as the site of two biblical temples.

Jordanian officials said the Israelis did not cross the border into Jordan.

On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized Israel over the reported expansion of the West Bank settlement of Efrat. The settlement's mayor told The Associated Press on Monday that the government gave the go-ahead to replace a trailer camp with 40 permanent homes there. The Palestinians have also condemned the move.

Ban called on Israel to freeze all settlement construction, saying it was "contrary to international law" and harmful to attempts to achieve a negotiated peace agreement.

[Associated Press; By MATTI FRIEDMAN]

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