There were security missions for all kinds of tours through Einbus and all the villages in the valley, from the area of Tapuach through the valley to Yitzhar, for a father-son trip. They are walking by foot in the middle of the night, under a full moon. The army has to guard a father-son trip from [the settlement of] Tapuach to Yitzhar through two Arab villages. You need to walk with them, escort them, position observation posts in absurd locations. There was an observation post force of five soldiers, there was the front command squad, and a patrol that was on call, plus an escort force right alongside them. It went through Jamma’in, Urif or Einbus to Yitzhar.

Are the settlers armed?Yes, they usually defend themselves. They were escorted by a pretty significant force. I don’t know if they went into houses. I assume they walked on the trails on this road, and if not on the trails then through the fields. It’s mostly fields, olive groves and plantations there. The situation is very complicated between the army and the civilians. Generally, either the Jews do it and it’s a mess or the Jews do it and it isn’t a mess. Usually, the area commander prefers to be there with them to make sure there’s no mess.

Who makes the decision if something like that happens?With the brigade commander’s authorization. The battalion commander can come and say, “this is nuts.” But it’s not as nuts as them doing that, making a mess.

Is it possible to prevent them from doing it?No.

And what if Palestinians want to march through Yitzhar?The Palestinians won’t want to march through Yitzhar. Maybe because they understand that it’s stupid, maybe because they understand that they have nothing to look for there. They’ll get beaten, shot, lots of tear gas, stones. They also don’t have any option to arrange such a thing with the army.