IDF Chief Instructs Soldiers to Keep Weapons with Them, even on Holiday

JERUSALEM, Israel – The terrorist murder of an off-duty soldier prompted IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Col. Gadi Eisenkot to change a long-standing weapons policy.

Previously, soldiers were required to leave their weapons at the base when taking three or more days of vacation. As of Monday evening, the chief of staff instructed all soldiers to keep their weapons with them, rather than leaving them behind.

The revised order follows last week's murder of Staff Sgt. Tuvia Weissman, 21, who was stabbed to death by two 14-year-old Arabs in a Rami Levi supermarket as he, his wife and infant daughter were shopping for Sabbath provisions. Weissman, on a week-long holiday with his family, was not in uniform when he was murdered.

Weissman's commander, Nahal Brigade's Col. Amos HaCohen, asked his superiors to reconsider allowing soldiers, especially those living in areas where there've been many attacks for nearly six months, YNet reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed what some considered controversial remarks by Eisenkot to a group of high school students last week about the rules of engagement.

Eisenkott told the students – most of whom will serve in the IDF when the graduate from high school – "our troops are moral."

Thousands of IDF troops operate among 2 million Palestinian Arabs and hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens, he explained.

"We educate our soldiers to act according to the IDF's ethics and spirit," he said.

"There were 170 terrorist incidents in recent months, and more than 100 terrorists were killed in situations in which the troops had split-second decisions to make," he said. "I would not want a soldier to unload an entire clip into a girl who is holding scissors. Our troops are moral and we know how to preserve this quality."