Israel Defense Forces Col. Ariel Gonen was appointed commander of the military’s Samaria Regional Brigade during a handover ceremony on Mount Gerizim, near Nablus (Shechem).
Gonen replaces Col. Shimon Siso, who served in the position for the past two years and who will join the Training Brigade, the IDF said.
“When I was informed that I would take over command of the Samaria sector, I was very excited,” Gonen told guests, including commanders, soldiers and family members, at Wednesday’s ceremony in Samaria.
“Firstly, because of the enormous privilege and responsibility given to me for the most important heritage and historic areas, in which our people have lived and existed for about 3,000 years, as well as the responsibility for the residents,” he said.
“We are in one of the most challenging and complex periods of the State of Israel,” Gonen added at the ceremony. “We must continue to act with strength, in defense and attack, to stand together with our partners in every task. The path is not always easy, but the goal is clear: Security and victory.”
The Samaria Regional Brigade is part of the Judea and Samaria Division, which is a regional division that falls under the IDF’s Central Command. The Samaria Brigade operates around Nablus, a city of about 180,000 that is also a Palestinian terrorist stronghold surrounded by a handful of Israeli civilian communities.
Gonen, who told Israel’s Arutz 7 outlet last year that he was raised in a religious Zionist home, has served in several high-ranking positions, including as the commander of the elite Givati Reconnaissance Unit.
On July 8, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth replaced Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox as the head of Central Command, which encompasses Judea and Samaria.
Bluth previously led the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division and served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military secretary from 2018 until 2021, when the longtime Israeli leader was briefly voted out of office.
Judea and Samaria saw a dramatic rise in Palestinian terrorist attacks in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching a peak level since the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005, per military data.
In the first half of 2024, Judea and Samaria saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to figures Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) published on Aug. 1.
In the first six months of this year, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges and 109 shootings.
Terrorists killed 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in the Judea and Samaria regions since the start of the year, the group said.
