During our period the sector was very quiet – it was mostly ambushes, an arrest or two in Zar’a al Kibliya, and flying checkpoints. These were usually set out at the entrance to Ras Karkar. That’s [the village’s] only entrance, pretty much. Whoever passes through, if they seem suspect, a car full of guys who are about to become illegal infiltrators, if you see a vehicle that’s bursting full of young guys – it’s usually infiltrators.

What’s the problem with them being there? It’s not inside Israel. True, there’s no problem, the thing is to try and catch things that look suspect. If I see someone who looks suspect – such a vehicle would be suspect – I ask him where he’s going, if he’s driving to Ramallah – no problem, drive on.

You let him pass? There’s not really a definition. It’s a standard kind of thing – it’s something one does every week, more than once. The point is to display presence, to show that we’re there and that we’re conducting searches. It’s not so much about finding stuff, with these things.

What does that mean, to ‘display presence’? To display presence on the route. It means that the settlers, too, will feel safe. The pillbox is a position, you don’t see what’s going on from there. When you leave the pillbox, the settlers see you and they say to themselves, “I know the military is here, I know everything is calm, I don’t have to do things myself.”

Are those the words that are used? To ‘demonstrate presence’ so that the settlers feel safe? Yes. Sometimes there are particular definitions: “Stop, we’re looking for such-and-such a car, with such-and-such a number, such-and-such a guy.” You want to make an arrest. If I see an elderly woman who’s driving, or an old man who’s driving, I won’t stop them, because I know I’m looking for a young guy. Say I see two young guys in a car that looks sort of new, sort of stolen – it’s an arrest. That’s the point, to show that we’re searching, so they won’t know when there’s an operation going on and when there isn’t, so they won’t know when we’re conducting searches and when we aren’t.

Do you get a definition of what’s suspect? That depends on the commander and on the situation. There are situations where we’re given a definition. There’s such-and-such a guy, such-and-such an ID, such-and-such a name. And then he’s the suspect – so anyone who fits the description, who fits the age. If there isn’t such a description, or there is but we don’t want to expose what we’re looking for, then make an arrest once in a while, check that the guy has his ID on him, ask him where he’s driving.