The unit is obligated, by virtue of us being in control of the West Bank, to give Palestinian residents living in the West Bank very basic rights. This includes humanitarian aid, or, generally, their basic right to movement into Israel. In addition to this, a unit that has control of permits has very significant power, mostly for the purpose of gathering intelligence, understanding what’s going on on the ground. So, it’s split into two, what I told you, which is the humanitarian need, which is a resident who just wants to go see his mother who lives in Jaffa, or wants to go to a hospital in East Jerusalem to receive treatment he can’t get in the West Bank. That’s the basic need, and that’s most residents who come to the reception window. In addition, the permits also give you the ability to talk to Palestinian residents who would not have wanted to talk to you without this tool, without the permits you can give them. In other words, I can give a comprador a permit. That’s something the Palestinians are very interested in, because it’s also what gives them the ability to provide for themselves. In fact, that’s how a Palestinian resident comes to me, for the sake of the matter, senior media figures, people in the [Palestinian] General Intelligence, the [Palestinian] Military Intelligence, people in the Palestinian intelligence [community] in general, Authority officials. The mayor would talk to me on a daily basis, and that’s the shit that was hardest for me, because the unit essentially gives and really helps these people, because we have an interest in keeping in touch with them, a security interest, because they give us information, collaborate with us.

To keep things quiet in a sense.Yes, totally, totally, but what actually happens, and COVID really drove this too, is that a situation is created where an ordinary person wants to enter [Israel] to go to the hospital, and that mayor, or some other person who has a ton of money, calls me, sends his documents to me on WhatsApp, and I have to give him [a permit], because it’s in the unit’s interest.

Is that a directive?There were times when I didn’t do it, and I got a lot of flak from my commanders. Like: “What, are you stupid? Like, of course you have to...” When you start the job, you understand who the people you’re supposed to talk to more are, and who aren’t. The head of a Palestinian mechanism (law enforcement or security agency run by the Palestinian Authority), it’s obvious you need to save a few permits in the quota available for his family, because we need him to be with us, because, the moment there’s a riot, he won’t come and tell us, “but wait a second, there’s no permit quota, so I won’t send the General Intelligence to talk to the guys who are throwing stones.”

Was that something that would happen, for that matter, that there was a riot, and you’d give him a call?Sure, lots of times Jews entered Area A, to evacuate the settler who went in by accident. A lot of good stuff comes out of it too, right? But, it has to be said that ultimately, you face this daily reality, and you hold your head and say, “jeez, this is a person that just has money. That’s why he’s getting more,” and it messes with your head. Even more so during COVID, when all the reasons for permits were reduced to humanitarian reasons only. There were really hard times when only cancer and dialysis patients were allowed to go into Rambam, Hadassah Ein Kerem and Wolfson (Israeli hospitals), say, the major hospitals. And then, suddenly, you meet this person who wants to go in for a brief visit to close some deal here in Tel Aviv, with his 16-year-old son, who has no business there – they’re obviously going to the beach or something, and you feel the injustice, you feel how shitty it is.

You say this because this happened, and you signed this permit?Yes, for sure, tons and tons of times. And that’s it, and then you go mental, because I want everyone to have the right to go to the beach if they want to, but here, it’s obvious to you that it’s for specific people. Say entry to Temple Mount has been limited by the Jerusalem District Commander to 10,000 people who can enter the Temple Mount, vaccinated people only. So now there’s a quota for the Bethlehem DCL of 1,100 Palestinian residents who can go in. Our Head of Liaison said, “leave a quota of 100.” Thousands of residents came to the reception window, like, the moment we reached a thousand, permits are shut down, no more permits. And then this guy asks for his family; the mayor of Efrat (an Israeli settlement near Bethlehem) asks for a few [permits] for some laborers working for him at the municipality that he has to get them for, and then the CSC (Civilian Security Coordinator, a settler in charge of the security of the settlement, appointed by the Ministry of Defense) needs [a permit] for two Palestinians for him. *** *** has a factory. He needs one for his daughter, so like...