After last week, when the IDF withdrew the demand to collect the weapons from the northern settlements that are not adjacent to the Lebanese border, now the heads of the settlements in the north are also joining the protest and calling on the Ministry of Defense not to collect the weapons of the standby squads: "We don't want a second black Sabbath."
As a reminder, the IDF demanded that the standby squads return the weapons they received when the Swords of Iron war began, so that in many of them only one weapon per locality would remain - to the commander of the standby squad.
Now, the heads of the settlements in 26 of the settlements of the Jordan Valley and the Springs Valley, join the protest of the coordinators of ongoing military security and call on the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the commanding general to immediately cancel the decision to collect the weapons from the standby squads in these settlements.
The letter sent by the heads of the settlements states that: "The harm to the regular military security coordinators and the standby squads in the Springs Valley and the Jordan Valley is fatal. It means a direct harm to the security of the settlements and their residents. On the cursed Saturday of October 7, the residents of the Gaza Strip envelope found themselves abandoned and alone in the battle, without the standby classes in full readiness, the results are known. Have we learned the lesson? Unfortunately, we feel that the answer is no. In light of the events of the last few days, which preceded the disbandment of our local defense force, our feeling is that there is a complete failure in the judgment of the security establishment."
The residents emphasized that: "Despite the intelligence assessments and the reports in the media, about the Iranian intensification and its metastases in southern Syria and the border triangle, a decision was made in the Ministry of Defense to lower the threat level above all settlements west of Route 90, as if they were less vulnerable.
"This is despite the infiltration of a terrorist through the Yarmukh road to Degania, a suicide attack in the settlement of Bichura, a suicide attack in Shluchot, arrests of border and drug smugglers near the Tzemach intersection and an attack in Beit Shean on the day of the elections."
Itai Hoffman, chairman of the Organization of Military Routine Security Coordinators in the National Histadrut, stated that: "The Ministry of Defense must not be allowed to make an omission during wartime. This is a movement of the old Israel, of before 7/10, which includes all the old conceptions that were shattered on that accursed Sabbath. I call on the Ministry of Defense to stop this lawlessness. We don't want a second Black Sabbath."