‘Hardcore’ Radical Settlers Can Torpedo Peace Push
Peace Threat: Extremist Jewish settlers move into the Palestinian city of Hebron. Image by getty images
Israel’s justice minister and chief negotiator with the Palestinians, Tzipi Livni, said the peace process may fail because of radical settlers.
“This is a hardcore ideological group whose center is in a certain settlement in Judea and Samaria, which does not accept any authority,” Livni, the leader of the Hatnua Party, said Friday in an interview with Army Radio.
She singled out the perpetrators of “price tag” attacks, assaults or cases of intimidation directed at Palestinians, security forces or left-wing Israelis.
“They want to prevent us from leading reasonable lives here and object to the values of the State of Israel, in which we believe,” she said, referring to the perpetrators of “price tag” attacks. “Politically, too, they are the ones who would prevent us [from reaching] a settlement.”
On Thursday, a Nazareth court extended by seven days the remand of a 25-year-old man who was arrested while slashing tires of cars belonging to Arab Israelis. The man, who was not named in reports by Israeli media, is denying any wrongdoing.
A court in Jerusalem on Thursday released the right-wing activist Amihai Matoki, whom police suspect of trying to burn down a mosque in the central city of Umm al Fahm last month.
A third suspect, Eliraz Fein, was released to house arrest pending an investigation into statements that endorse targeting Israeli troops. Police say that Fein, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, made them in writing while corresponding online with other settlers.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
