Israeli military chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth said that his forces are “killing like we haven’t killed since 1967,” reportedly admitting that Israel’s troops discriminate between Jews and Palestinians.
Bluth made the remarks at a recent closed forum, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The Israel Defense Forces Central Command chief said that Israeli troops fatally shot several Palestinian stone-throwers. He has so far not acknowledged the remarks reported by Haaretz.
Bluth said that Israeli forces killed 42 Palestinian stone-throwers in 2025. He admitted that he, however, does not support shooting at Jewish settlers throwing rocks at vehicles. Referring to an incident from last year, he said that two masked jews were fired at for throwing rocks at motorists, adding that the incident caused a “ruckus”.
ALSO READ | Gaza activists disperse after flotilla halted by Israel off Crete
He cited two more examples where an officer shot and hit a 15-year-old anarchist from Beit She’an for throwing rocks at an army jeep at midnight. Bluth further said the officer didn’t know it was Jews until he heard them speaking Hebrew.
In another case, the Israeli army chief mentioned a case where a police officer fired on right-wing activists and fatally wounded one of them. They had reportedly pepper-sprayed him, he said.
‘Yes, it involves discrimination’
Bluth accepted that he preferred using non-lethal methods to disperse Jewish protestors and detain suspects in any such case. “Any such incident has very serious consequences from a societal perspective. I’m not sure we need to go there; we don’t have to engage in shooting, and yes, it involves discrimination,” Bluth admitted.
The rules on trials and arrests for Palestinians and Jews are also different. While Palestinians face actions as per the military law in the West Bank and get extended detention without trial, Jews and Israelis are judged by civilian courts.
Bluth further reportedly said that he also relaxed the rules of engagement for firing at Palestinians in the West Bank, especially on those trying to cross the barrier into Israel.
ALSO READ | Palestinians alarmed as Israel approves 34 new West Bank settlements
According to the current rules, Israeli soldiers are allowed to shoot a suspect in or below the knee while arresting them, a move Bluth said is meant to create an effect he calls “barrier consciousness.”
“There are a lot of ‘limping monuments’ in Palestinian villages, of those who tried to, so there is a price being paid,” Bluth added.
Each illegal Palestinian worker a ‘potential terrorist’
He further justified the IDF’s “precise aggression” in the West Bank, saying that it was to prevent terrorism. “We’ve killed 1,500 terrorists in three years. So, how come there is no intifada? Why don’t they take to the streets? Why is the Palestinian public indifferent? Why are there no riots? Because 96 per cent of the 1,500 killed were involved in terrorism, only 4 per cent were not.”
He described Palestinian stone-throwers as ‘terrorists’. Bluth further justified the “shooting” policy and said that each illegal Palestinian worker is a “potential terrorist”.
He further said that the number of non-combatants killed by his troops was less than that of the Northern and Southern Command. “Of those 1,500 who were killed, 70 per cent were carrying arms,” the army chief added.
ALSO READ | Israel plans to ‘annex’ West Bank land as ‘state property’: Why Palestinians see it as mega land grab | Explained
Bluth also said the Arabs understand that “if someone comes to kill you, kill them first: is the norm in the Middle East”.
“So, we’re killing like we haven’t killed since 1967,” Bluth said, a remark he made in reference to the six-day Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in over 15,000 Arab deaths and led to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,068 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, according to AFP’s tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
ALSO READ | Israel shares video of activists enjoying after Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted | Watch
A few days earlier as well, Bluth triggered a controversy after he warned that “Jewish terror” carried out by extremists would trigger an uprising.
He said that Palestinians still being indifferent is “almost a miracle”.
The Major General said that before October 7, 2023, there were about 40,000 West Bank Palestinians in Israel. But today, Bluth said, there are 50,000 to 70,000 of them in the country, without authorisation. Notably, permits to enter Israel were suspended after Hamas’s attack on Israel.
