The World Council of Churches (WCC) announced this morning it is pulling its "ecumenical accompaniers" from Hevron due to "security concerns."
The announcement came two days after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Israel would not extend the mandate of TIPH, the Temporary International Presence in Hevron.
The WCC's flagship project, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), sends operatives to Israel to "monitor" and "report human rights abuses".
WCC has recently come under fire from Im Tirtzu, NGO Monitor, DMU and other pro-Israel organizations for promoting anti-Israel rhetoric and BDS economic warfare.
Over the past few months, Im Tirtzu members have been continuously filming the activities of EAPPI in Hevron. Videos uploaded to social media by Im Tirtzu have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
According to WCC general secretary Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, this "intensified harassment of WCC's program" caused it to pull the accompaniers.
"The WCC accompaniers are currently prevented from fulfilling their role as peaceful protective presence for residents in Hevron," said Tveit.
Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg welcomed the announcement and vowed to continue protecting IDF soldiers.
"We're pleased to see foreign government-funded delegitimization organizations are beginning to leave Hevron," said Peleg.
"These organizations do nothing apart from fuel the fires of conflict and provoke IDF soldiers, and they are the true obstacle to peace.
"We're pleased that our efforts to 'film the filmers' succeeded, and we promise to continue working on behalf of IDF soldiers and the State of Israel."
