It’s the civilian security coordinator who directs the army, not the army that directs the civilian security coordinator
There was a drill in Maon. The minute we got there, the Civilian Security Coordinator (a settler in charge of the security of the settlement, appointed by the Ministry of Defense) found us and delegated orders. One of his orders was to position me at a certain point to guard, and they all ran in some direction. The drill finished and I said, “How can you put me in a point where I can just be shot at?” And then my commander said to me, “It wasn’t my decision, it was the Civilian Security Coordinator’s.” And then the Civilian Security Coordinator said, “I am the commander on the field, I give the orders, when the army arrives I direct it.” The message, at the end of the day, is that during an incident it’s the Civilian Security Coordinator who directs the army, not the army that directs the Civilian Security Coordinator. The settlers made it clear to us that they not only manage the DCO (District Coordination Office) within the yellow areas (territories closed off to Palestinians proximate to settlements), they also manage the army operatively. They essentially protect their settlements with weapons provided by the army, and we essentially back the settlers.