Security guards from the United States Consulate on Friday afternoon clashed with Jewish residents near the community of Adei Ad, located in the Binyamin region.

Arutz Sheva learned that two vehicles belonging to the consulate arrived at the community without coordination with residents.

Locals then tried to make sense of the actions of the American security guards, at which point, officials said, an argument developed and the Americans pulled out a gun and an M16.

A security official stressed in a conversation with Arutz Sheva that the guards arrived in the area without any coordination with the IDF and the police.

A spokeswoman for the Israel police told the AFP news agency that the diplomats were apparently on a mission, which was not coordinated with Israeli security forces, to assess “damage caused by acts of vandalism in an olive orchard of Turmus Ayya”.

They were acting on Palestinian Arab complaints that Jewish residents had uprooted 5,000 olive saplings planted on land recovered after a years-long legal battle, the report said.

A Palestinian Arab source confirmed that the Consulate staff were invited by local Arabs who wanted to show them the damage allegedly caused to their olive trees. During the visit, the Americans were reportedly attacked with stones and the security guards ordered them to return to their cars. No injuries or damage were reported, and the convoy continued on its way.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)