The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) suspended the 941st “Netzah Israel” Battalion from active West Bank operations on Monday after soldiers from the unit detained and allegedly assaulted a CNN crew in the Palestinian village of Tayasir on March 26.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered the removal of the reserve battalion, part of the Menashe Regional Brigade, following a Saturday night call with Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth in which Zamir directed that investigation findings be presented to him with command recommendations.
The unit will remain on reserve status and undergo a review aimed at “reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations,” the IDF said.
IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said the soldiers’ conduct “does not represent the IDF.” “I apologized privately, and I will say it again. This shouldn’t have happened,” Shoshani said on X.
The soldiers’ conduct and statements in this incident do not represent the IDF, go against what is expected of IDF soldiers and will be investigated.
In real time, after receiving the report of the incident, we acted to resolve the issue ASAP.
I apologized privately, and I…— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) March 28, 2026
CNN correspondent Jeremy Diamond reported that soldiers approached the crew with weapons raised and that one soldier placed photojournalist Cyril Theophilos in a chokehold, bringing him to the ground and damaging his camera. The crew was held for approximately two hours.
On camera, a soldier identified only as Meir told Diamond that the soldiers were carrying out “revenge” for the killing of 18-year-old settler Yehuda Sherman days earlier.
The Israeli military’s top general suspended all operational activities of the reserve battalion involved in my team’s detention & assault.
The reserve battalion, comprised of hundreds of reservists who served in the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion, will be immediately…— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) March 29, 2026
The IDF confirmed one soldier is under criminal investigation for the alleged physical assault, while a second, who made on-camera statements encouraging “revenge” against Palestinians, has been removed from his position.
The suspension covered the entire battalion, not only the roughly dozen soldiers directly involved. The IDF said punishing the smaller company alone would not have been adequate given the severity of the incident and the unit’s history of prior disciplinary issues.
IDF sources disputed elements of CNN’s framing, stating that the soldiers were participating in the authorized process of removing the illegal outpost, not obstructing it. The IDF also said CNN’s report incorrectly connected the battalion to a separate, unrelated incident.
The Foreign Press Association condemned the encounter. “This was not a misunderstanding,” it said. “It was a violent assault on clearly identified journalists and a direct attack on press freedom.”
The 941st draws its personnel largely from veterans of the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, a unit that has faced scrutiny for prior conduct, including the 2022 death of 78-year-old Palestinian American Omar Assad following his detention by its soldiers.
The IDF opposed full disbandment, citing the battalion’s combat record, its high reservist response rate, and its function as a flagship integration program for ultra-Orthodox soldiers.
