ISRAELI POLICE TRAIN TO FIGHT WEST BANK JEWS
Israeljustice.com
Date added:
1/1/2009
TEL AVIV -- The Israeli police conducted an unprecedented exercise meant to counter Arab and Jewish unrest in 2009.
About 6,000 officers participated in a Dec. 18 exercise meant to simulate the demolition of a Jewish community in the West Bank as well as riots in Arab towns. The officers were divided into law enforcement personnel and Jewish resistors in the largest exercise by the force.
"This marked a successful end to a comprehensive training regime for police forces," Police Commissioner Inspector-General David Cohen said.
Officials said the exercise was meant to improve police anti-riot skills. They said scores of officers were injured in the exercise at a military training facility in southern Israel. The injuries included broken bones and sprained limbs.
"When there is such a large exercise meant to simulate a real-life situation, there are also injuries," a police statement said.
Officials said 54 officers were injured during the exercise, meant to prepare police for what was expected to be an increase in unrest in 2009. They included five injured when a police van overturned, reportedly caused by the driver who fell asleep.
Police, criticized for excessive force against women and children demonstrators, have been granted greater responsibility for operations against Jews in the West Bank. They cited the Dec. 4 violent police raid on the Jewish-occupied Peace House in Hebron in which 30 people were injured.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has pledged to escalate a crackdown on Jewish dissidents in the West Bank. Barak said Jewish settlers in the West Bank posed one of the biggest challenges to the military and police. There are more than 300,000 Jews living in the West Bank.
The police exercise also included a simulation of a riot by Arabs, similar to the violence in the coastal city of Acre in September 2008. Officers were dressed in Arab headdress and waved Palestinian flags in the mock confrontation.
"The police are ready for any complex scenario, as well as protecting law and order and maintaining public peace," Cohen said.
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