IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir suspended the 914th Netzah Yehuda Battalion from operations in the West Bank on Sunday, the IDF announced after soldiers from the battalion accosted a CNN news crew, injuring one and damaging camera equipment on Friday.
Following an investigation into the incident, Zamir decided to adopt the commanders’ recommendations, and the battalion’s operational deployment will be suspended until it has undergone “a process aimed at reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations,” the IDF wrote.
The IDF added that its resumption will be subject to the decision of IDF Central Command Chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and additional command measures will be implemented at a later stage.
The battalion came under scrutiny after soldiers approached a CNN news team on Friday during an interview with Palestinian residents of the West Bank town of Nablus, telling both the CNN reporters and Palestinians to stop speaking.
In a video released by CNN, the IDF soldiers approach with weapons pointed directly at the news team, telling the crew to get down. Shortly after, the camera footage grew shaky when, according to CNN, their photojournalist was put in a chokehold.
Personal motives and settler sympathies
Soldiers discussed their sympathies towards settler extremists with the CNN crew on camera, stating that all of the West Bank belonged to the Jewish people and the state of Israel.
Others said that they had a personal motive, speaking of seeking revenge for Yehuda Sherman, an 18-year-old settler who was killed by a Palestinian driver.
“If you had a brother and they killed him, what would you have done?” a soldier asked a CNN reporter.
Following the incident, the IDF released a statement saying that “the actions and behavior of the soldiers in the incident are incompatible with what is expected of IDF soldiers operating in the Judea and Samaria area.”