CLAIM: Israeli Settlers are not the IDF.
RATING:
Mixed
Like most Israeli citizens, the majority of adult settlers have served in the IDF.
Once they’ve finished their mandatory 2-3 years of IDF service, settlers are considered reservists but not active members of the IDF.
Despite no longer being on active duty, the settlers continue to be given weapons and ammunition by the IDF. They coordinate their plans with the IDF. They are protected by the IDF. They can call on the IDF to come and assist or protect them, should they decide to harass or intimidate Palestinians. And IDF soldiers do not see settler violence towards Palestinians as an infraction of the law.
Settlers are not mere civilians, they are partners with the military; they participate in military planning and they command soldiers, "especially with regard to the expulsion of Palestinians from agricultural land adjacent to their settlements." This is one way that settlers take over Palestinians' land. As one IDF member put it, the settlers are treated by the IDF "as if they were a branch of the security forces."
Source: Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers' Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010 (2012) by Breaking the Silence, pp.285-286.
One reply on “Israel-Palestine Mega Fact Check!”
Keep trying to invent history. The palis didn’t exist until the mid 1960s.
One other fun fact – every group, every political organization, and every government that has ever tried to destroy the Jews has been destroyed. Fun fact #2 Israel has never been stronger.