An IDF reserve unit stationed in Gush Etzion conducted a drill on Wednesday simulating riots by Israelis.

The exercise took place at the Beit Habracha resort, near the Al-Arroub refugee camp and south of Bethlehem. Troops participating in the simulation were outraged over what they considered a far-fetched scenario.

The situation that was imagined for the drill included dozens of Israeli demonstrators rioting near the gas station in Beit Habracha. The soldiers were told to act as if they were responding to the situation and to arrive at the scene wearing ski masks. The simulation also talks about Palestinians opening fire and wounding an Israeli civilian.

The scenario raised more than a few eyebrows, partly because it simulates an extremely extreme situation that has never occurred in the area, while the more plausible scenario—an attack by Palestinian terrorists—was not the main focus.

“It seems illogical to me that at a time when the main threat to the communities here is an attack like the one on October 7, they are preparing an imaginary scenario of an Israelis’ disruption. The concept is still here,” said one of the soldiers who witnessed the exercise.

In February, the IDF conducted a divisional exercise that simulated an extreme scenario in which Israeli residents of Samaria kidnapped a Palestinian. The IDF then apologized for the incident, and reserve fighters in the area sent letters of apology to the communities in the area.

Image - Gershon Elinson/Flash90