IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth reportedly acknowledged in a recent closed forum that the IDF applies different enforcement policies against Israeli and Palestinian stone-throwers in the West Bank.

Bluth justified the decision to only use live fire against Palestinian stone-throwers, arguing that IDF troops employing the same measures against fellow Jews would have “sociological consequences,” according to Haaretz, which apparently obtained a recording of the senior IDF officer’s remarks. Bluth did not deny the quotes attributed to him in the Sunday report.

Bluth took pride in having loosened the IDF’s rules of engagement against Palestinians, particularly those trying to illegally cross the West Bank security barrier, Haaretz reported.

Soldiers are now permitted to carry out a suspect arrest procedure that includes shooting up to a Palestinian’s knees for the purpose of deterrence in the so-called “seam zone,” Bluth reportedly said.

He quipped that many Palestinians are now seen limping as a result of his policy, adding that another 42 Palestinians who were allegedly trying to hurl stones at cars in the West Bank were shot dead by Israeli troops in 2025 alone.

While he characterized stone throwing by Palestinians as terror, he didn’t go as far as to make that characterization when referring to Jewish stone-throwers and argued that he did not support soldiers opening fire at them.

Bluth — who has faced criticism for allowing settler violence to fester unchecked for months before only recently speaking out against it — recalled how Border Police last year shot at stone throwers because their faces were covered and the cops didn’t realize they were settlers.

Even though they had been targeted by settlers, the Israeli forces faced criticism from certain ultranationalist circles for having used live fire. It was one of two such incidents over the past year. “Luckily, the Jews were not killed,” Haaretz quoted Bluth as having said.

“Any such incident [in which soldiers shoot at Israeli stone-throwers] has very severe consequences from a sociological perspective,” Bluth said. “Yes, there is discrimination to some extent.”

“I’m not sure that opening fire on every Israeli stone-thrower… would help. I think........

© The Times of Israel