Brig. Gen. (res.) Joel Feldschuh was detained on Monday by Israel Police outside the West Bank village of Duma for allegedly attacking a settler. Feldschuh’s companions say he was defending female activists from the settler.
Police were called to an incident by the IDF to an incident on Monday afternoon after reports of an “attack on a shepherd.”
Police detained the 77-year-old Feldschuh, but released him after interrogation on the condition that he leave the area. Police then detained a 15-year-old resident of Jerusalem on suspicion of involvement in the attack. He was released on restrictive conditions following interrogation.
Feldschuh arrived with the Commanders for Israel’s Security movement to help Palestinians in the area harvest olives, an activity that often attracts protests by settlers.
Members of the movement later said they had arrived at the site because “the residents are afraid to go out to harvest.”
About half an hour after arriving, “A young man arrived from one of the outposts in the area and attacked the women and activists who were there. We tried to stop him.”
Minutes later, large numbers of settlers arrived from a nearby outpost, leading the army to intervene and de-escalate the situation. After Feldschuh was detained by the army and then the police, his companions demanded to know the reason. Police responded by saying that he “was in the picture” they received of the incident.
Former MK Brig. Gen. (res.) Eyal Ben Reuven told Ynet, “We come to help them, and in the end, it is precisely the activists who came to help who find themselves detained and arrested.”
The settlers responded to the claims, saying that “left-wing activists arrived at the farm in Binyamin. One of the anarchists attacked the farm’s shepherd with a club and wounded him in the head.”
Feldschuh was previously the head of the Israel Air Force’s intelligence wing and served as El Al CEO from 1996 to 2000.
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