Katz Directs IDF to Plan Transfer of West Bank Civilian Enforcement to Police

Katz instructed the IDF to prepare, with police and other authorities, a plan transferring civilian law-enforcement and public-order responsibility for Israeli communities and residents in Judea and Samaria to the Israel Police. He said police should handle Israeli civilians as elsewhere in Israel, with the necessary force, authority and budgets. Katz said the IDF should focus on fighting Palestinian terrorism, securing the territory and borders, and defending communities. He cited growing security demands, an expected rise in the settler population, decisions establishing 104 new communities and the formalization of agricultural farms. The instruction begins planning; no transfer has yet occurred.