Several dozen Jewish extremists in Hebron for an annual pilgrimage tried to attack the head of the IDF Central Command Maj Gen Avi Bluth, who the military said was in the flashpoint West Bank city on Friday to secure the gathering, local media Times of Israel reported.
Five suspects were arrested by police after they chased Bluth and the soldiers accompanying him, calling the Israel Defense Force (IDF) commander a “traitor.”
Maj Gen Avi Bluth typically has a fraught relationship with settler extremists, since the army is tasked with trying to keep them in check in the West Bank.
The IDF said that the group of young suspects chased Bluth and tried to block an exit that the military needed for operational activity.
No injuries were reported to Bluth or the soldiers with him.
After five suspects were arrested, the gathering of rioters was dispersed, the IDF said, adding that it strongly condemned the violence.
Each year, tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers visit Hebron to mark the yearly Torah reading of the biblical Abraham’s purchase of the site where the Tomb of the Patriarch sits to bury his wife, the matriarch Sarah.
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